Chasing Immortality
by GoatMilkandTACOS
Summary: FOURTH IN A SERIES. The friends return when troubling news reaches Shipwreck Cove. But will they solve the problems within in time to defeat a new, terrifying enemy? Jack/OC, Will/OC
1. Shipwreck Cove Again

**So here it is, the long-awaited (by some :P) new installment in our series. Please, if you're reading this and haven't read the others, go back and do so. It won't make an awful lot of sense if you don't. To those of you who have read the others, welcome back. This is the first one we wrote completely from scratch, so please please please review as much as you can. Anyways, on with the show...**

Prologue - Nim

Sometimes, it feels as though there is too much time, as if life just stretches ahead, dull, endless, unchanging. You wish it would move faster, wish you could skip through the pointless interlude and actually start living. But when you find happiness, contentment, freedom, time seems to rush cruelly away. There is never enough.

I would give anything to have held onto my brief moment of happiness amid all this trouble, and I know that if the chance comes along, I will ensure that I take time into my own hands and do whatever it takes to hold onto it. To find your place is incredible, but staying there means chasing immortality.

Chapter 1 - Nim

Sometimes I wonder whether my friends would sleep through the apocalypse. The storm outside is raging, harsh wind echoing in moans and cries through Shipwreck Cove, sea spray rising above the sharp, black rocks and attacking the portholes of our Pirate Lord's apartment. But still, in their various rooms, they sleep on.

Being an insomniac, I can't sleep when there is no storm, so tonight I have no chance. I find myself, very much alone, sitting in a rocking chair by the fire in our main room, for once longing for life in the 21st century where I could always watch reruns of Friends when I was wakeful, or some documentary on goat farmers in Nepal. I'm longing for Jack too, more for a distraction than anything else.

As I reminisce on watching Pirates of the Caribbean at night back in my old life, the front door bursts wide open, letting in the howling, angry wind. I jump up, suddenly afraid. The wind blows cold, biting rain through my mightgown and I blink drops out of my eyes. There is someone in the doorway and I can feel my heart beating so fast.

"Jack?" I say his name on a whisper as he comes into the room, pushing the door closed and looking at me with a small smile. He is out of breath, dripping wet and holding his arms out for me. Without hesitation, I go to him, wincing when he hugs me and his clothes are so wet. "What are you doing here?"

Since we defeated Beckett together, three months have passed. Jack visited me once, about six weeks ago, but I've not seen him since. I wasn't expecting him back from his latest venture just yet. I didn't think he would return until Christmas.

"The storm." he looks severe now. "The seas aren't safe any more, love. Calypso should never have been freed. Pirate ships are being sunk in so many storms now. All over the Caribbean."

"You were forced to make port here?" I gasp.

"Aye." he sighs. "Barbossa wants to find the Fountain of Youth. He seems to think that regaining immortality is the answer. Come with me." he holds out a hand.

"Where?" I ask warily. He just grabs my hand and leads me to the front door, making his way out into the night. I grab at the doorframe. "I'm not going out there!"

"Only for a minute." he smiles roguishly. "I'll carry you if I have to."

"Alright!" I follow him sullenly along the jetty, down some rickety wooden steps and out onto the black rocks. He begins to climb and I moan to myself, not relishing the idea of climbing in a nightdress and bare feet. When we crest the hill, I'm out of breath too, soaked to the bone and shivering with the cold. I can barely stay upright here on top of the cliff, for the wind is strong. Jack begins to lead me towards the edge, where the sea stretches out before us.

There, I gasp, grip his hand tightly in mine. Lightening illuminates the sky for a moment, turning everything upside down, a crazy, disorientating sight. Before us, the sea yawns in a giant maelstrom, like the one in which we fought our desperate battle. A series of images come back to me in a brief flash; Jack's hand grasping Will's around the sword, Davy Jones toppling to the swirling centre, Barbossa calling orders through the lashing rain. Rain like this. No storm like this could be anything other than Calypso's doing. She is still angry at the pirates for binding her all those years, and for killing her one true love. This is bad.

When we return to our apartment, I stand shivering by the fire, trying to take in what I've just seen. Being on land for three months means I've heard nothing of news on the sea. We have kept mostly to ourselves, going out only to buy supplies or the occasional drink in the Cove's many taverns. In spite of the serious situation with Calypso, I can't help but notice Jack, who is peeling off his dripping frock coat and hanging it up. His shirt is no dryer and it sticks to him glaringly.

"I don't know what to do, Nim." he comes and stands by me, by the fire, trying to get dry. "We could go to the Fountain of Youth, but immortality... it's a big decision to make." I'm still rendered temporarily speechless at the sight of him, so I just nod slowly.

"Let's discuss it with everyone tomorrow, eh?" I suggest finally after a few moments' silence. Jack takes the hint and follows me to our room.


	2. Questions

**Chapter 2 - Meg**

Eventually, Meg gets up, thinking she will probably have to face her friends at some point. She yawns and gets out of bed, dressing in her old pirate gear and feeling nothing as she goes through the motions of brushing her hair, lacing her boots.

Once in the main room, she is surprised to find it empty. A note on the table tells her they have all gone to market for more food and rum for a celebration that night. Celebrating Jack's return. She doesn't want to hang around an empty house, and she certainly doesn't want to be home when they arrived, jubilant and desperate for her to join their festivities. Instead, she leaves the apartment, tossing the note into the fire as she goes. She climbs up the sharp rocks, relishing the physical activity, the scrape of their surfaces against her bare hands. On top, a cold wind blows her hair into tangles and sea spray through her shirt.

Why did Will have to be the one to captain the Dutchman? She asks so many questions of the empty blue sky as she waits for nothing in particular, sitting with her back against a rock and her knees drawn to her chin, looking out at the horizon clear of ships. Of the Dutchman. Of him. Why is she unable to be happy with her friends? Why has she felt so wronged since he disappeared over that same horizon? She had felt able to do anything when she and Nim held the power of Calypso. Why is she so powerless now?

"He won't be coming this way for a long time, miss." she hears a voice, started and looks round to see Barbossa striding along the cliff top, coming from the general direction of Shipwreck Harbour. "Ain't no use lookin' out at the sea for a decade."

"What would you know of it?" she snaps. Barbossa just chuckles and sits on the rock behind her, his boots on her left. He pats her shoulder a little too hard, and she almost wants to laugh. Almost. "Anyway, why don't you take the Pearl while Jack's busy with Nim?" the bitter edge to her voice surprises her.

"Maybe you're not so senseless after all." Barbossa laughs, and Meg raises an eyebrow. "In fact, Mrs Turner, there be a way for us both to get what we want. But I'd need your help."

"Nothing can get me what I want." she murmurs, pressing her fingers to her eyes to stop the tears there.

"That's where you're wrong. Have you heard of the Fountain of Youth?" he finishes his question in a hushed, awed voice. She looks confusedly at him, shaking her head. Knowing he has a captive audience, Barbossa continues dramatically. "It will make anyone who drinks from it immortal, certainly, but it will do more than that; you'll be part of both worlds - living and dead - able to cross as much as... why, as much as the captain of the Dutchman himself!"

"I'd... I'd be as Will is?" Meg asks eagerly.

"Aye, in a roundabout way. But Jack doesn't want to go there." Barbossa adds darkly.

"Oh. I see." Meg smiles knowingly at Barbossa. "But why do you want to go there, Captain Barbossa? Surely you've had your fill of immortality."

"True enough, true enough. But I want to be able to sail the seas when no other pirate of the Brethren can. I'd give up my mortality for that prize."

"Why the change of heart?"

"You're not much of a pirate, are you, Mrs Turner?" he says wryly. Meg cannot help but agree with him.

"You want me to help you steal the Pearl from Jack?" Meg laughs a high, vaguely maniacal laugh. "Why would I betray my friends?"

"Well, can you see them finding a way for you to be with Turner again? Can you see them caring at all?" Barbossa stands, walks a few steps away from Meg before turning back. "Think about it, Mrs Turner. If you want to be with Will badly enough, you'll meet me here tomorrow at midnight."

He leaves her. Meg reviews the questions which have been troubling her mind so much for a month. She cannot see her way clear to anything, but on the edges of her thoughts is the chilling fact; Barbossa has the only answer anyone has offered so far.


	3. Secrets

**Another chapter.  
**

**Chapter 3 - Nim**

While I cook, Emma, Katie, Norrington, Elizabeth and Jack sit by the fire and Jack tells them of the problems with Calypso. They offer me help, but I don't need any, and I am content to listen in on their conversation as I make soup and bake bread for our dinner, wondering all the while what is the best way to help Jack. Meg is still, I know, up on the cliffs and it worries me. I have the dreadful feeling of a control freak who knows there's something out of her control.

"This is almost ready. Would someone go get Meg?" I ask the room at large. No one exhibits any particular enthusiasm. "It's alright. I'll go. Elizabeth, would you watch the soup?"

Fetching my shawl from the kitchen table, I head to the door, going out into the warm evening air. The sun is setting, pink on the horizon at sea, and as I make my way up onto the cliff, I can see that the wind is stirring the grass.

Sure enough, she's sitting in her regular place in front of the rock, looking out at the waves, hands knotted together in her lap.

"Meg?" I go and sit down next to her. "Dinner's almost ready."

"Do you think he looks out for me too?" she asks, her voice cracked. I'm not sure if I'm meant to answer; it seems as if she's speaking only to herself. There are two sides to my thoughts about Meg just now; part of me feels immense sympathy for her, but another, smaller but still niggling part resents her for disturbing our perfect life.

"I don't know." I sigh. "But I know you can't spend the next nine years and ten-and-a-half months staring out at the horizon. It won't accomplish anything."

"You're right." she looks at me with revelation in her eyes. "You're right. I need to do something. Sitting here isn't any use to anyone."

"I'm glad you can see that, Meg." I reply, but there's something about the fervour on her face, something unnerving in her tone that tinges my relief with anxiety. Somehow, I don't believe she intends to just get on with her life; it feels like there's something she's not telling me.

***  
The captain surveys the churning waters from his window, watching as the lightning tears the sky in two with all the power it can muster, the stormy, sickly-green waves washing over the waterfront of Tortuga and sending the late night revellers screaming and running for cover. Down in the harbour, the ships bob like toy boats, ropes torn from their moorings, sails ripped apart. All that power. His right hand shaking slightly, he reaches out and takes another drink of rum from the bottle.

His room is possibly the finest in Tortuga, situated in one of the best inns on the waterfront. He required a room facing out onto the sea, and he had enough gold to pay for it. The black trunk carrying his clothes and possessions stands open at the foot of the bed, a new silver sword nestling against the black velvet, dark blue brocade and grey silk of his clothes. On the desk before him is his leather-bound notebook, in which he had been recording his thoughts, plans, intentions, a wide-brimmed black hat with a large silver buckle and a narrow, rectangular wooden box with a gold lock and words engraved upon the lid; _Sine arma nulla salus_. He eyes the box with a curious expression, stretches out a pale finger and runs it along the top, stopping at the clasp, about to open it...

There is a knock at the door.

"Enter." he calls, his voice deep but devoid of all emotion.

"Evening, sir. I brought you a pot of coffee." the innkeeper's daughter enters with a tray laden with a battered silver coffee pot and an old mug. He notices her recoil slightly as he takes the tray from her, her dark eyes betraying her fear. Her weakness.

"Thank you." he sets it on the desk, though he is not at all inclined to drink the coffee.

"You ought to come away from the window, Captain." she says fearfully, still standing there and looking out at the roiling waters. "It's a bad storm again tonight."

"Do you think I fear death?" he asks quietly, turning to look at her. Something about him alarms her, for her eyes widen and she starts to back away towards the door.

"No, Captain, I... I don't know, Captain." she stammers.

"Come." he grabs her arm and forces her to stand at the window, looking out into the darkness. She is shaking. "Can you see it? The power of the sea?" he laughs coldly. "Of course you can't. It is not for you to see, not for you to know."

As she shakes and nods in turn, asking him in her small, nervous voice to let her go, she sees the blurred reflection of him behind her in the window, and in the moment before the bottle of rum knocks her unconscious, she thinks she sees not a man, but a devil lurking there.

The captain calmly lets her slump to the ground, her wide eyes closed for the time being. He goes to the desk and flips open the little box, extracts a small bottle filled with what looks like water. But when it catches the light of the candle on the desk, it takes on a dark red lustre, the colour of blood. He crouches beside her, lifts her head with strange care and puts the bottle to her lips, forcing her to drink from it. When half of it is gone, he lets her fall back down, replaces the bottle in the box and closes it. She is coming round and her eyes are fluttering open.

He raises his hand with a flourish, clicks his fingers twice and waits as two of his officers troop wordlessly into the room from where they are resting next door. Both are blank-eyed and appear to know exactly what the captain wants, for they help the stirring girl up and lead her away, none of them saying a word.

Captain Moran shuts the door behind them, rubs his head wearily and sits back down at the desk. Just as he picks up his pen and is about to continue writing, he notices the two officers crossing the perilous courtyard to the waterfront, the girl moving between them with an odd purpose to her gait. He smiles slightly to himself, glances at the wooden box and returns to his writing. All is well.


	4. Keeper of the Code

Washing the dishes at the long wooden table is always my least favourite job around the apartment in Shipwreck Cove. Normally, I get out of it because I cook, but tonight is my turn and I stand at the table, up to my elbows in a large bucket of hot water, scrubbing dishes and pots from the stew we had for dinner tonight. My hair is escaping from its knot, falling irritatingly into my eyes, and I'm hot from all the stupid scrubbing. I've never appreciated dishwashers so much.

But, there's one consolation; Jack is sitting opposite me, watching me almost sympathetically. Though, of course, he would never offer to help. Everyone else has gone to bed, and the place is silent save for the lapping of water and my own occasional cursing.

"There's something I haven't told you about the Fountain of Youth." he says suddenly. I stop scrubbing for a moment and look at him. He seems sad, which is strange for Jack.

"Yes?" I return to the scrubbing.

"It can be used to bind Calypso... permanently." he frowns at me, thinking.

"But... do you want to do that?" I ask, puzzled. "I thought it was a good thing that she's free." Even back when I watched the films, I always thought that Calypso's freedom was necessary, that the slightly more unpredictable seas were a small price to pay.

"Before, I used to think so too. But she is vengeful." he sighs. "Nim, I don't want to do it. But I've no idea what can be done."

I know that I'd do anything to see Jack looking like his old self, not dejected and fearful of the sea. I've seen him lately casting glances out of the windows, itching to get back on his boat, and it kills me. Just as Meg had to pay the price of losing Will to the Dutchman, it feels as if we pirates have paid the price of the seas to stop Beckett. My thoughts are confused, but at the moment it seems as if we've exchanged one kind of slavery for another.

"You should go to bed." I tell him, noticing how tired and miserable he seems. "I'll be in soon; I just have to finish this." He nods and slopes off to our room.

Later, something wakes me, and at first I don't know what it is. But then I hear it again; light, careful footsteps on the floorboards of the main room beyond my door. Jack sleeps soundly beside me, his hand inches from my face. Who could be out there?

Knowing I've no chance of getting back to sleep in my agitated state, I get up, sneaking silently to the door and pushing it open. The room beyond is dark, lit only by the thin moonlight streaming through the windows, and I can't see anything moving. But something stirs by the door, my eyes adjust and I see Meg, fully dressed with boots on, shouldering a knapsack.

"Meg?" I hiss. What could she be doing? "Where are you going?" I light one of the candles on the table, and now I can see her face, fearful and guilty in the flickering light.

"I..." she begins, closes her eyes as if fighting pain."I need to go to him." Tears roll down her cheeks.

"To Will?" I rush to her, put my arm round her shoulders and guide her to one of the battered armchairs by the dying embers of the fire. "What's wrong, Meg? How can you go to him?"

"Barbossa." her voice is a harsh whisper. "He... he means to take the Pearl tonight and-"

"Take the Pearl?!" I almost shout, furious now. "And you would go with him? Meg, you would betray Jack? Betray me?" I glare at her and she looks down into her lap, taking deep breaths and trying to compose herself.

"Nim, Barbossa is taking the Pearl to the Fountain of Youth to become immortal." she looks at me, and my anger is stopped cold by the sadness in her face. "And I... I mean to drink from it and become immortal. Like Will."

The Fountain of Youth... Calypso could be bound there permanently, that's what Jack said. But Barbossa would never do that, would he? I know that he would claim immortality and use his advantage to out-pirate everyone else on the seas. I could do it. I could go with them and bind the sea goddess for good. Jack would understand, as he understands the necessity of binding her, and I could look after Meg on the journey. I know that another part of me wants to try and regain something of the friendship we used to have, to sail the seas like old times and take risks. Maybe I can't fit into perfection so easily, and that's why I'm feeling so completely restless at the moment?

There is one problem; I don't know how to bind Calypso to the Fountain. But... I know someone who probably does...

"Meg?" I stand, offering her my hand. "I'm going with you. But, first, I need to see Teague Sparrow."

Meg doesn't require explanations or persuasion. She seems so happy that we'll be making this journey together, and I almost wish I could confide my mission to her. In fact, I don't wholly know why I don't - only that Barbossa would be better thinking I've no agenda except accompanying Meg.

Meg goes to meet with Barbossa on the cliffs while I speed through Shipwreck Cove, heading for the rooms Teague Sparrow keeps as Keeper of the Code. They are in the centre of the mass of crushed and broken ships, their main study overlooking the Brethren Court's meeting room with a grand balcony. It is here that I find him, his bedraggled maid letting me in and announcing me.

"Ah, Captain Nim..." he smirks when I stumble into the room, breathing hard from my run there."To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I'm not Captain Nim any more, Teague." I say calmly, going to sit on the desk opposite him without asking. "I'm King of the Brethren Court." My smile is a triumphant one. His eyes glitter as he returns the smile, so like Jack's.

"Ah, yes, but you've not answered my question. What has led you here in the middle of the night, looking so... frenzied?" he raises on eyebrow, taking in my dishevelled appearance.

"I am going to the Fountain of Youth." I tell him plainly. "I am going there to bind Calypso permanently. And I need to know the procedure."

"You are doing this without telling Jack, aren't you?" he looks smugly at me.

"Yes." I admit. "He is... reluctant, but I can't see any other way to save piracy. We've defeated Beckett, but now it seems we serve under a new master." I sigh, tired suddenly.

"I don't know how to bind her forever, Nim." he leans across at me now. "Everything is different now. It's unlike anything I've seen. The facts are these - no one in living memory has seen a time in which Calypso is free, and none know how to placate her. These are, forgive me, uncharted waters."

"Do you believe it's possible?" I ask wearily.

"There is always some truth behind these rumours. I imagine it can be done, yes."

"Then I will go there and see for myself." I rise, knowing that I will have to set out without fully knowing what I am going to do, something which still unsettles me.

"And I wish you the best of luck." he looks at me, dismissing me.

"Thank you." I flee the room. There's something I need to do before joining Meg on the Pearl with Barbossa.

Our rooms are still quiet and dark, the fire completely gone from the grate now, burnt down to ashes. I move around the place, soft as moonlight, exchanging my silk slippers for my old boots, the same ones I wore to battle before, putting essential things into a knapsack. Then, with a deep breath, I push open the door to mine and Jack's room.

He's still fast asleep on the bed, looking so peaceful that I am drawn to him, so tempted to climb back into bed and leave Meg to face her adventure alone. Taking deep breaths, I change my clothes, putting on trousers, a shirt, corset and waistcoat. I find my belt, pistol and sword in the cupboard and fasten it round my hips. It's heavier than I remember it. Then, I go to Jack's side and kiss his cheek softly, willing to take the risk that he will wake up, half-hoping he will. But he sleeps through my silent goodbye, and I am through the door and out into the moonlight.


	5. Port Royal

**Thanks to our most epic reviewers callieandjack and Raine. You guys made our evening. If you're at all interested in joining the PBs, just say. :D**

The Pearl shimmers in the moonlight in the Cove's harbour. The docks are eerily quiet; all the pirates seeking cover from the cold rain in the dockside taverns. As I make my way along the jetty between creaking sails, ropes and hulls, the moon at my back and the rough wood beneath my feet, I feel as though I'm being watched. The hairs on the back of my neck rise, and I turn quickly. No one. Nothing. Stop jumping at shadows, Nim. It's just you're guilt at leaving Jack. I try to convince myself that this is the case as I hurry up the gangplank onto the Pearl's dimly lit half deck.

At first it appears deserted, but then I see Barbossa standing in the doorway of the Grand Cabin, watching me from the shadows.

"You coming aboard?" he says, voice low.

"Yes."

"Meg tells me you intend to bind Calypso." I look at him, our eyes meeting. Slowly, I nod. He seems to look at me to see if I really mean it, to see quite how strong my intention is. Clearly it satisfies whatever he was looking for, because he too nods.

"Jack doesn't..." my voice breaks. I clear my throat and start again. "Jack doesn't know I'm here."

"Right." Barbossa looks away. "Well, Meg is downstairs in your old cabin. We're makin' sail now, but you're not needed on deck. You may as well get some sleep."

I say nothing more to him. Part of me wants to tear him apart for stealing the ship from Jack, but now I know that I'm as much a part of it as he is. Guilty. It weighs me down like lead in my stomach, and when I reach the cabin, I can tell that this journey is going to be like nothing else we've done, in spite of the familiar sight of the two narrow beds hugging the cabin walls, Meg sitting on one of them.

She hasn't lit a candle, and the only light is that of the moon. I want to fill this room with light, banish the shadows. Instead, I stow my rucksack beneath my bed and sit down.

"Just like old times." I attempt a smile, but Meg remains serious.

"Not really." she says.

At least I'm trying. Anger courses through me and I wonder whether we will ever be able to talk and laugh like before, whether the memories will sustain us throughout this journey or whether she will be completely cut off from me.

The boat leaves the harbour and eventually, Meg goes to sleep. I wish I could do the same, but instead I sit, looking out of the porthole at the blackness, thinking of the wrong I have done to Jack, and the possibility of making it right. I think of how Calypso's freedom is what we fought for, but now I am fighting to contain her. It makes no sense, and deep down in the mire of my thoughts, I know that my reasons for escaping our paradise in the Cove are not entirely selfless. The adventure has fired me again, and I am loath to give it up.

Morning comes in the form of a pale, sickly light coming through the porthole, landing on my face lightly. I've slept, but my bones ache and with drowsy time, I realize I've slept sitting up, slumped against the wall, face still turned up to the circular window. I stretch, loosen my joints, stand up. Meg stirs too, rolling over to face me.

"Where am I?" she sounds terrified.

"We're on the Pearl." I say reassuringly. "It's ok. We're sailing towards the Fountain of Youth."

She relaxes against the pillows, closing her eyes and putting a hand to her head.

"I was having the most terrible dream."

"We ought to go out on deck." I say quietly, not sure I can hear about the horrors she faces in her sleep when there is already so much on my mind.

We dress quickly and leave the cabin for the half deck upstairs. Outside, it's bright, breezy and warm, the finest morning we've seen in weeks. The wind fills the sails and we're cresting the waves at quite a speed, Barbossa grinning from the helm. Up ahead, I can see land, and we seem to be heading for it. Leaving Meg looking out to sea, I go to him.

"We're making port already?"

"Aye, miss. I didn't have time to gather supplies at the Cove, given the... nature of our departure. So we'll be stopping at Port Royal."

Port Royal. I watch the land drawing nearer, until I can see the hazy outline of Fort Charles. I had always wanted to see it again, but now everything seems to feel wrong and strange. Troubled, I go down to where Meg is looking at the looming land, expressionless.

"Port Royal, then." I say in a cheery voice.

"Yeah." she replies. "I suppose they'll have a new governor."

I hadn't thought of that. Governor Swann always ran Port Royal, and I desperately wish he still did, living up in his mansion away from the town with his daughter Elizabeth who had never even set foot on a pirate ship. It would make everything so much simpler. She would've married Commodore Norrington and lived a perfectly respectable life. But I wouldn't be here. I would be in another century, another reality where cursed pirates don't turn to skeletons by the moonlight, where a damned crew doesn't sail the oceans searching for wrecks and where no sea goddess' wrath is enough to stop the steady progress of human endeavour. Would I prefer that? I can hardly tell any more.

"While Barbossa gets his supplies, shall we go and explore the town? We could go and see what the market has to offer." I replace the merriment in my voice, knowing that I've a little money in my knapsack in the cabin. Perhaps a little eighteenth-century retail therapy is what's needed.

"Yes, alright." Meg doesn't sound completely convinced, but as long as she agrees, I'm certain I can make something of today.

When we go ashore at midday, the sun is still shining. We tell Barbossa of our intention, and he lets us go without a second glance, concentrating on securing the best supplies at the lowest price. We're free for the afternoon. Meg and I stroll along the jetty, heading into town, the glittering sea surrounding us. Once we're in town, we look for the main street and find it quickly, a long, cobbled hill with various stalls dotted along it, shop fronts offering all manner of strange things. Will's old blacksmith is signposted, and I divert Meg's attention to a stall offering caged birds.

An old woman sells coral jewellery at a shabby stall, and we wander over, picking up the necklaces and bracelets, asking how much they cost. We each buy pink shell bracelets, putting them on as we walk, choosing mangoes and eating them while standing at the roadside, watching the other shoppers, pirates, workers. We laugh at people who try to steal things and end up chased down the street by the stallholders, the pirates who try to stay out of sight when the red-coated soldiers come along. With the sun on our faces, it's almost like old times, when we were carefree and not scarred by battles.

"This has been such a good afternoon." Meg says as we walk back through the market and browse a stall selling scarves and shawls. She is smiling properly for the first time in a long time, and I am glad of it.

"Don't drink the water, Meg." I say seriously as I hand coins to the stallholder and wrap my new purple scarf round my neck. Meg pays for her green shawl but her face is troubled.

"I have to." she says in a small voice.

"No, you don't." I reply, linking arms with her as we make our way back towards the docks. The sun is slowly dipping towards the horizon, the light golden in the branches that hang from gaps between buildings, the lush, tropical forest pushing up against the ramshackle town. I can smell passionflower and hibiscus, floating by on the breeze. It's so peaceful I could stay here, forget my mission, forget Jack even.

"But I can be with him."

"And leave your friends." I say, failing to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

"I have to do this, Nim."

There's nothing for me to do but nod, resigned. I obviously can't convince her otherwise, and I only hope that she'll be happy as an immortal, living on the seas for all eternity with Will. As we board the ship, I look up into the sun, shielding my eyes. Could I be immortal? I could live forever with my friends, young forever, until we finally get back to our time. And the future. The future would come, and I would see it. But what if it got boring? What if my friends drifted apart and I had to spend eternity alone? If the choice is a short, blissful life or an eternity of struggling for a place in the world, I'd take the short life. Immortality is not for me. How can it be for Meg? Does she not understand what could happen?

The ship sets sail from Port Royal and I leave it behind once more, leaving behind the happiest day I've had in a while. Now we're back on the ship, confined to our cabin for fear of being in the way, Meg is back to her melancholy state again. Our small argument has weighted the silence between us. I miss Jack, Emma, Katie, even Elizabeth and Norrington. I long to be back in Shipwreck Cove, eating dinner and chatting as we would be at this time of the evening. Adventure's shine wears off when you're alone. And Meg has left me alone. She may not yet have become immortal, but she has left me as surely as we have left Port Royal, my friend still standing on that shore, waving me off with a sad smile.


	6. Mystic Wisdom

**Thanks again for the reviews. Here's Kirsti's first chapter.**

Chapter 6 - Kirsti

I breathe in fresh, tropical air. But something isn't right. The air smells sharp. Either my memory of the Caribbean air is fading, or this sour smell is telling me something is wrong. I open my eyes, but quickly close them. I am in my room, in my bed, in the 21st century. It is still dark out, early in the morning, so I daydream about being back in the world of Pirates of the Caribbean.

I remember back to that day in the maelstrom. I almost died, but it was the most exciting day that I have ever experienced. I remember Barbossa's words: "Dying is the day worth living for!" But I do worry about my friends living with the pirates. As fun and exciting as it may be, living the life of a pirate can be very dangerous. My life here is boring, no adventures or sword fights. I only came back because of modern amenities, but none of those amenities are as thrilling as being a pirate. And I am sure I would be able to get used to life without air conditioning, even in the hot, tropical sun. That is, if I ever did get the chance to go back.

When my room starts to get light, I can see that I am surrounded by Pirates of the Caribbean memorabilia. None of it is real, though. All of it just pictures of actors, and plastic toys made by manufacturers. All except for one thing. Like Elizabeth did in the first movie, I get up from bed, and put on a necklace I keep hidden. It is the locket once belonging to Tia Dalma. Nim had used it as a portal between our worlds. Then I look at my collage of pictures from the movies on the wall.

There is a picture of Tia Dalma in her shack. I remember putting it up years ago, back when the second movie had just come out. It is from one of my favourite scenes, the first time we meet Tia. She is wearing a worn, but beautiful dress, in golden lighting. I stare at the picture a long time, until it begins to change. It begins to look more real, and less like a piece of paper that it really is. Tia begins to move, and talk.

"Kirsti!" She says in her deep Caribbean accent.

"What!?" I am surprised. Am I still dreaming?

"We are in danger. Moran is taking over. You're friends are in trouble."

"Oh no, what is happening?"

"To bind me forever, someone must take the two lockets to the Fountain of Youth, and replace me. That is where two of your friends are going, Nim and Meg."

"They shouldn't do this!"

"There is more; a Captain named Moran. Another fear on the waters, you need to warn them before he enslaves them and..." She motions towards my mirror. I am frightened by what I see. I've never looked so scary before. My eyes look dead, and my skin is a gray-white, with blood all over. I quickly turn back to Tia once I realize it is just an illusion.

"How do I warn them?"

She says nothing. She has gone back to being just a picture.

I sigh, and decide to look at a different poster, one with no people that could randomly start talking to me. There is a picture of the sea, with a pirate ship sailing across it. It is so beautiful, that it makes me completely forget everything that just happened. It is from the scene when Elizabeth is on a beach, looking out to sea, with Will sailing away on the Flying Dutchman. No wait, that couldn't be it. I look more closely and notice that ship is not the Flying Dutchman, but the Black Pearl. When is there a scene when I am standing on a beach looking at the Black Pearl?

Wait... I am standing on a beach. I look around and realize I am definitely not in my room anymore. The sea is shimmering in the hot sun. I am back! I look around and try to figure out where exactly 'back' is.

I don't figure it out until I see a ship going into the island. There is a large opening into a cove. Shipwreck Cove. I jump on to the ship heading toward the city, and hold on long enough until I jump on the dock.

I start to wander around the city, and this is when I realize I am in a dress. One of those beautiful, 18th century dresses. The day those come back in fashion is the day I go back to the 21st century. I twirl and swing my dress around. This is so cool!

"I am glad to see a young lady proud to be wearing proper clothing. Really, too many nowadays ..."

I soak in that deep, gorgeous voice. "Jack!" I yell.

"Can I help ye with anything, miss?"

"You know my friends! Nim, Katie, Emma, Meg?"

"Ah, yes, right this way."


	7. Betrayal

**I love our reviewers! Thanks, epic people. Here's Katie's first chapter:**

Chapter 7 - Katie

I pull a blanket over my eyes as the bright light of morning shines on my face. I was never a morning person, and after a minute or two of laying in the warm comfort of my bed I reluctantly throw the covers back and get ready for the day. Entering the kitchen, I see Norrington sitting at the kitchen table, looking down at the floor with his head resting in his hand. I am surprised to see him there, as he usually is out in the early mornings.

"Don't tell me that you're thinking about cooking us breakfast?" I ask him jokingly. He looks up at me with a worried expression, and I know instantly that something is very wrong.

"I am afraid that Nim and Meg have left in the middle of the night. Jack is out looking for them at the moment."

"Why would they leave?" This is the first time any of us have been separated since coming to the 18th century. The thought of Nim and Meg being gone scares me a little, the fact that they left so unexpectedly without telling anyone. Meg had been acting weird, but she has been that way ever since Will had been captain of the Dutchman. As I try to think of any possibility, any reason why they could have left, I hear someone running up to the front door and Jack bursts through.

"They've taken it! Nim, Meg…Barbossa…" I hear the disgust come through in his voice when he says Barbossa's name. "Barbossa has taken my bloody ship! I should have killed him when I had the chance. Stealing my ship, how many times I am going to be left behind while my ship sails away with him!"

"What's going on?" Emma and Elizabeth are both standing towards the back of the kitchen.

"I'll tell you what's going on. That bloody bast-" Norrington cuts him off.

"Calm down, Jack. Yelling like that isn't going to solve any problems. Does anyone have any ideas as to why they might have left?"

I quickly explain what has transpired overnight to Emma and Elizabeth. "Barbossa has taken the Pearl with Nim and Meg, but we don't know why yet. They didn't leave anything as to where they are going or why."

"They've gone to search for the Fountain of Youth." Jack is now standing in front of the window, looking out at the ramshackle living quarters of the other pirates in the cove. "Barbossa wants to become immortal, as well as binding Calypso permanently there, and I think Nim is going to help him." he continues. He has taken a serious tone, abandoning the anger he had moments earlier. We are all silent, listening intently, shocked by what we are hearing. "Calypso has made the seas boil with anger, and now Barbossa wants them tamed."

"But Barbossa is the one who lobbied for her freedom?"

"Yes, he did, Elizabeth. None of us knew that she would be so angry afterwards. Since our victory over the East India Trading Company, no pirate ship has been able to sail without encountering dangerous storms on their journey. Every time any pirate tries to sail, we are at great risk of being capsized." He looks at us, with a smirk on his face. "I will take the liberty of assuming no one is ready for a visit to dear William on the Dutchman." He slowly turns from window and walks closer towards the old table at the center of room. "We are now paying the price for Calypso's centuries of imprisonment, and that price is one that Barbossa is not willing to pay. Now, I am going to search for some rum, we're going to need a lot of it."

As Jack goes out the door, a feeling of despair fills the room. Emma breaks the silence. "Well, I guess we need to come up with a plan. How are we going to catch Barbossa, he has the Pearl. No ship can catch it."

Norrington lets out a small laugh. He knows all to well the difficulties of chasing the Pearl. That's what led to his current life.

I can't help but feel some sense of betrayal. I thought we were brought to this time to help ensure that Beckett lost and didn't gain control of the seas. Calypso was supposed to be free. But the revelation that all the work we went through in that battle is going to waste is frustrating, and it's all because Barbossa doesn't want to face what he has unleashed. We all sit around the table, and feverishly discuss what we should do next.

Suddenly Jack bursts through the door, almost exactly like last time, but he isn't angry, instead he seemed greatly amused.

"Look at who I found wandering around Shipwreck Cove." He moves over to the side to let someone else come in.

"Kirsti?" I ask. I had never expected to see her back here again, and from everyone else's expressions, they are as shocked as I am. Emma stands at her place at the table.

"B...But how did you get back?"

"Calypso, she came to me. I'm so glad to see you guys." She comes over to the table and she hugs Emma and me before sitting down. "I need to tell you about the Fountain of Youth."

"I believe then that you will be holding the key to solving our peculiar predicament?" Jack asks her as he pulls out a chair.

"We have to stop Nim and Meg. Calypso told me that to bind her forever, someone must take the two lockets to the Fountain of Youth, and replace her."

We all look around the table at each other, and soak in what this means for us.  
"Whoever binds Calypso will be taking her spot, but any one of them could be the one who does it. We can't let them do this."

Suddenly we jump when we hear something slam loudly onto the table. Jack has pulled out the rolled up map to the Fountain of Youth that he kept hidden from Barbossa, and he holds it tightly in his fist on the tabletop.

"No…and that's why we're going after them."


	8. The Drunk and the Master

**People who review rock infinitely more than those who don't. True fact. Here's Emma's first chapter...**

Chapter 8 - Emma

As I walk into the tavern in Shipwreck Cove my nose wrinkles in disgust. The smell of body odour and urine slaps my face and leaves me blinking in a dazed way. I really should be used to it by now.

Jack and Norrington step in on either side of me, seemingly unaffected by the smell. Absolutely incredible. I wonder if they have actually breathed yet.

"Right," says Jack, clapping his hands together, "We are in need of a ship so I can get me Pearl back. Look for someone gullible…or drunk. They're most likely to let us 'borrow' their ship."

Norrington rolls his eyes and heads for the bar, while Jack moves towards a small table of men who look like they've been drinking since sunrise. Their ruddy faces are shining in the candlelight and their raucous laughter seems to permeate the entire room.

I follow Norrington and lean on the bar, scanning the room hopefully. I wonder how I could possibly convince someone to part with their ship, and I turn to Norrington to ask this.

James raises his eyebrows and shrugs.

"Just do what you can. A man who is drunk enough will do anything for a woman, Emma. "

It looks like I'll have to rely on my non-existent feminine charms. I'll never get a ship. Norrington smiles at me, moves towards the table where Jack is and joins the drunken hilarity.

I sigh and turn to the barman who is cleaning a glass with a disgustingly brown rag. He just seems to be making the glass dirtier. Brown sludge spreads across the already murky surface with a shudder-inducing squelch.

"What's yer poison, missus?" he asks with a gap-toothed grin.

I heave slightly and force a smile. There's not a chance in hell I'll drink from anything in here.

"Nothing, thank you. I'm just waiting for someone."

I look at the room at large and come to the conclusion that everyone is drunk to some degree. Sometimes I astound even myself with my observational skills.

There are men sleeping at their tables, their drinks balanced precariously close to the table's edge and their drool coating the already slimy wood. Then there are those who are stumbling around looking for a good fight or a whore; I'm never entirely sure which; they all seem to wear the same expression of determination anyway.

A crash resounds through the room as an already incredibly drunk man stumbles in, flanked by two others. Now this looks promising.

The man stumbles to stand beside me and leans across the bar while his mates move to a table.

"Rum!" he shouts to the barman who immediately slides a full mug towards him.

The man slugs half of the drink before slamming it onto the bar, smacking his lips together. His face is contorted in anger and seems to be growing redder by the second. I wonder if I should even look at the man let alone talk to him. How do you introduce yourself to a man who would most likely knock you out? My only answer is: you don't.

He takes another large gulp and mutters to himself.

"Bastard…evil…thinks I'll do anything! Anything! I'll show him…no, no I won't….he's my master."

I stare at the man for a second before leaning over to tap his heaving shoulders.

"A-are you alright?" I ask.

The man spins to look for the idiotic person who tapped his shoulder, his bloodshot eyes spy me standing awkwardly beside him, trying my best to transform a look of fear to one of worry.

"No! I've left that ship. He-he's up to nooooo good, lass."

Oh no, he's extending vowels.

"Who is up to no good?"

Alright good, appear interested.

"My master!" he cries his eyes wide and his arm flailing. Rum spills onto the cuff of his patchy coat and slips down his arm but he takes no notice.

"Your…master?"

The man frowns at me.

"I-inn-inquisitive twins you are. Moran…Captain Moran is my master." He spits the last word as though it is a foul taste in his mouth.

"What has he done?" I find myself genuinely interested now. This Moran must be quite a character to induce such anger.

"E's a cruueeeell man is Captain Moran. Evil 'e is. Thinks we'll do anyfink fur 'im. I'm not going to do it. I can't last under his reign any…. hic…more."

Suddenly the man's face crumples and he sobs into the crook of his arm. I'm alarmed at his sudden mood change and I pat his arm awkwardly, feeling his body shake beneath my light touch.

"There, there. It's alright." I say. I've never been the best comforter.

"No. I be stayin' with Moran fer good. I can't escape now. He…he has bad plans, lass. He says gonna rule the seas and he will, mark my words. Y-you have to protect yourself. A nice girl like you. His evil is spreading like a curse."

I step back slightly as his two companions come up to the bar.

"What you been saying, Bill?" asks one.

The other turns to me threateningly.

"He been saying any fink to ya, girl?"

Girl? I have a bloody name.

"No. No. He's just been telling me…how much he loves sailing the seas on his ship."

My pathetic lie obviously doesn't convince the man who squints at me suspiciously. He leans forward and grabs my shirt, pulling me forward. His face is worn and rough and a menacing glint flashes in his dark eyes. I can feel and smell his awful breath hit my face as he whispers to me.

"You didn't hear nufink alright? Captain Moran don't like little girls trying to interfere with his business so don't you go saying anything to anyone. You hear me?"

"He-he didn't tell me a thing!" I stutter.

I feel people behind me and groan. I'm a dead woman. I at least want to go out fighting. I try to move my hand towards my sword when I hear a familiar voice.

"Let her go." growls Jack.

Relief spreads through me and I can hardly resist grinning at the pirate still holding me.

"This ain't none of your business, mate. Back off."

Nevertheless the pirate lets me go and I stumble back slightly.

Norrington puts his hand on my shoulder and I glare at the pirate in front of me. Norrington, Jack and I turn to leave the bar when the pirate shouts from behind us.

"Don't be telling no one lass!"

Jack frowns.

"What's he talking about?"

I gulp

"No idea. Drunken ramblings I suppose."

"Hmm, I've never known a woman so small who could irritate a man as much as that." says Norrington, grinning.

I shrug and look down.

"It happens to be a talent of mine."

"Apparently," says Jack, "While you were off annoyin' sailors we managed to acquire a ship. The owner was a blithering idiot so it didn't take much, eh Norrie?"

Norrington nods and I grin at the look of irritation on his face.

Now that we have a ship, the journey can begin. All I hope is that we don't meet Captain Moran on the way.

Katie, Kirsti, Jack, Elizabeth, Norrington and I gather at the docks before a blue Schooner, named The Lily-Rose.

"Well, it's a nice colour." I say, hoping to inject some enthusiasm into the blank faces around me.

Jack gives me an exasperated look.

"A nice colour? It's nothing in comparison to the Pearl. Look at it! My ship is huge and magnificent, worthy to be on the seas. This…boat is miniscule compared to the Pearl. It couldn't stand up to it."

"Well, you don't have the Pearl Jack. That's why we need this ship!" says Katie.

Jack gives her a pointed look and Katie sighs.

"Boat."

Katie, Kirsti and I make our way towards the gang plank looking forward to being on a ship, sailing the seas.

After a few hours, my joy of sailing has dissipated. None of us PBs have sailed much before now and we're beginning to feel the strain. My hands are red raw from pulling at ropes and the sun is shining on my neck, somehow managing to burn me through my long hair.

I realise that I have finally reached my melting point and collapse in the shadow of the main mast. Katie and Kirsti fall on either side of me, sighing. We agree that this is much harder work than it seems at first.

"I think my hands have worn away." says Kirsti, lifting her red palms up and blowing on them.

I laugh tiredly and do the same.

I lean my head back to look at the topgallant mast. The sails are billowing in the strong wind and the red blue and white of the British flag flutters against the cloudless sky. I could sit staring for the rest of the day.

Jack stands at the wheel of the ship, brow furrowed against the glaring sun. Still obviously unhappy at the ship he is having to captain. Norrington and Elizabeth are hard at work, both sweating profusely but otherwise looking untroubled by the heat. I have to admire that.

Struggling to my feet, I cross the deck and approach Jack.

"How long do you think we'll be, Jack?"

Jack glances round and smiles.

"There's a favourable wind. I'm goin' to say the rest of today and tomorrow."

I nod and jump down to main deck once more. Well, I did always dream of sailing the seas.

When we all climb on to the deck the next day there are large, black clouds hovering in the distance. I don't think clouds have ever looked so menacing or evil before.

I approach the rails to stand beside Norrington and he points to the sky where a group of what looks like gulls are flying.

"We must be near land." he says, "You'll be delighted."

I laugh and lean on the rail.

"Definitely. I love the sea but hate the work. I must come across as a wonderful pirate."

Leaving Norrington at the rail, I join Katie and Kirsti in work, ready to throw myself into it.


	9. Caught in the Storm

**Back to Nim again. Thanks to the awesome callieandjack and Raine, again. :D**

Chapter 9 - Nim

For two days it's like this; sailing north, buffeted by strong winds and high waves that stir our ship and make it hard for Barbossa to keep on course. But nights are calm, too calm. We don't move at all at night, stranded in Calypso's doldrums as if she wants us to go mad with the stillness.

I keep to our cabin mostly, only going up on deck at night when everyone else is below, prowling the quarterdeck and feeling the warm, heavy air press on me like a cloak. I'm tired for no reason most of the time, tired from doing nothing. Meg barely speaks to me, sleeping and waking in bursts, walking up on the deck when I sleep in the afternoons. Sometimes, I hear her crying when I come in from my midnight walks, but I haven't got the strength to comfort her any more. I can't bring myself to care for someone who won't fight for me, for anything. She wants to take the easy route, and I'm willing to let her. I hadn't thought her so weak, but we can be so wrong about people, can't we? It's so easy to completely mistake someone's character.

On our fourth night on ship, the stillness breaks. We sail into a storm the likes of which I've not seen since that night on the cliffs with Jack. Waves as big as houses threaten to swamp the Pearl, which jolts over them with a sound like the wind howling. Meg and I are needed on deck, hauling in the sails so they aren't ripped to shreds, tying down everything on deck, getting as much of the cargo below as possible. Twice, I lose my footing and almost plummet to my death off the pitching, rolling ship. A couple of lucky waves save me, though. My fingers are numb with cold as I try to secure barrels to the deck with clumsy knots, dodging them when they go rolling due to my ineptitude. Meg is faring a little better, concentrating on carrying things below, running about with a determined look. But then she stops, clinging to the rail and looking out at the sea. The look on her face stops me cold.

"Meg? What is it?"

She says nothing, and I follow her gaze out onto the waves. Land. We're near land. But we can't be. I wipe the rain from my eyes, look again. It's unmistakeable; we're running parallel to a small beach, jagged with black rocks. The rocks spill out across the sea and I can already see a wreck tangled in them. We'll be dashed as surely as that ship I can see, mast broken, jutting up towards the torn sky.

"Barbossa! Rocks! Ahead!" I leave Meg standing by the rail, staring fixedly at the wreck. I'm racing for the helm where Barbossa steers. He can see them too. "We'll have to run aground! Barbossa, now!" he's not doing anything. Just standing there, horror on his face.

"Hard to starboard!" he finally yells, coming out of his stupor. The men stop, stare blankly up at him from the half deck where they're still trying to secure cargo. "Do it! Now, or we'll be dashed! Rocks ahead!"

They pull on ropes, manoeuvre the sails, as Barbossa steers the ship hard for the beach. With any luck, we'll beach gently. But if the waves are too strong at the wrong moment, the Pearl will be destroyed. I hold my breath, grip the quarterdeck railing. Calypso, please...

There is a soft shushing sound as we beach gently, majestically, on the sand. The Pearl is safe, thankfully, but she lists to one side and I know it will be difficult to get her back out to sea in the morning, like when Jack and Will escaped the Isla de Pelegostos in the second film. I can breathe again, rushing down to the half deck, I check if Meg is alright. She is sitting on the deck, back against the railing, hugging her knees.

"Meg? Are you alright?" I ask over the still-roaring wind, the crash of the waves.

"Nim, that wreck. Will will come, won't he?" she looks at me with a fervour that stops me in my tracks. "He'll come for their souls."

"No, Meg. Not necessarily, they-" I begin.

"He'll come." she says again, interrupting me. She gets to her feet quickly. "I'm going over there."

"No! How will you get there? It's impossible." I hold onto her arm.

"I'll climb over the rocks. I have to go, Nim. I have to!" she cries, shaking free. She really intends to run across the wind-blown beach, climb across the treacherous black rocks and board the wreckage to wait for Will. Well, I can't let her go alone.

"I'm coming with you." I say grimly. "Hold on." I fetch a lantern from below and return to her side. Barbossa shoots me a questioning look as I disappear over the side of the ship, climbing down the ladder, but there is nothing I can do now. He watches with a strange fear I've never seen on his face before.

The journey across the beach is easy enough, a case of running and bearing the freezing spray that drenches our already-soaked clothes. But then we have to scale the sharp, black rocks, not unlike those that guard the pirates' Shipwreck Cove. My old home. A couple of times, my hands slip and I feel sure I'm about to be swept away by the waves that lap at our feet. My teeth chatter and my hands are ripped to ribbons. Meg climbs stoically on ahead of me, not appearing to notice anything except her destination. And then we reach it; the wreck.

Across the cannons, tangled harshly in the rigging, huddling in the companionway are the bodies of the crew. The lightning illuminates blood, their stricken faces, the discarded cargo, the few living who are lying together by the capstan, crying softly, their injuries slowly killing them. I want to be sick, to cry, to get away from here. But Meg stands in the middle of it all, looking expectantly at the horizon where she expects him to materialize. I am sure that even Jones, devil of the sea, would never have come to such a dreadful place. My skin crawls with the death and hopelessness of this wreck.

"Let's go back, Meg. He's not coming!" There's desperation in my voice when I tug on her arm and try to lead her to the edge. She turns to me with fury.

"No! You can go back if you like. I never asked you to come with me." she laughs coldly. "You always think you need to help me. Poor Meg - can't do anything on her own. Well, I don't need you! I never did!"

I hate her. There is a part of me that wants to leave her on this ship to face her death, to face Will and to have to let him go again, on her own. If she doesn't need me, that's perfectly fine. But this journey is already a lonely one. I can't bear the thought of being left to complete this alone. The memories of our previous adventures cut me and I'm suddenly so very tired.

He arrives, of course, to collect those souls, to take them into his care. He materializes on the other end of the deck to where we stand, flanked by two crew members, his face serious and blank as he looks upon the death he must surely see every day. But then his eyes light on her, standing there with her clothes in tatters and her hair plastered to her face, shivering. Then I see the horror in his eyes.

"Meg?" he goes to her, wraps his arms round her. "Meg, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. We're going... we're going..." she can't continue. She's shivering too much.

"Go aboard the Dutchman." Will decides for us, putting his hands on our arms. It must be his power as captain, for next thing I know, the three of us are standing in that sad, desolate cabin where Jones' old organ stands, redundant. "I will return soon. I need to see to my duty." Will explains, disappearing into the wall.

Meg sinks to the organ stool, shaking hard, hands on her knees. I go to the walls, run my hands across the sad carvings of death at sea, such a melancholy place. She plays a soft melody on the keys, nothing I recognize, but I find I'm crying. I go and sit next to her on the stool, staring at the keys as she stops playing.

Will returns silently, and she goes to him. They're speaking in soft murmurs and I can just about make out the fact she's telling him about her mission to the Fountain of Youth. He protests, and she says something I can't hear. He is quiet then. They murmur kindly, sadly, to one another and I'm even lonelier. The locket Jones kept by his side catches my eye, lying beside the keys. Its counterpart is in another world now, lost to us. What I wouldn't give to have it, to disappear into another world. But this locket, the opposite, is singing to me. I can hear its faint tune even though it's closed. It sings of things I can't understand, of my future and my destiny. I never considered I might have a destiny until now, listening to that locket shut out all the horror that surrounds me. Before I completely know what I'm doing, the locket is safely stowed in my pocket. Will hasn't even noticed that I've stolen from him.

"It's time for you to go." he says, and it's the first thing I've heard in a while. I come out of my trance.

Meg protests, and I remain on the stool before the organ, trying not to listen to her crying and his soft reassurances. Loneliness presses in on me with the cold and I want to leave. Eventually, Will takes us back to the wrecked ship, they kiss one last time and Meg lets me lead her across the deck, past the dead and harshly broken sailors, over the sharp, treacherous rocks and back to the Pearl. Although Barbossa probably needs our help to set the ship afloat again, he takes one look at Meg and lets us go to our cabin.

The storm ends as the sun rises, and we claim the sea once more, sailing ever closer to the Fountain of Youth, the heart of everything.


	10. Weathering the Storm

**Thanks to callieandjack, Raine, Delu and chocolatay for being epic people and reviewing. You guys are beyond grand. Here's Kirsti...**

Chapter 10 - Kirsti

I used to enjoy the rain. It was something different from the usual sunny, happy, boring days. Most people don't like to go out in the rain, for fear of getting wet. I never understood this. Rain is just water; there is nothing horrible about getting wet from the rain.

However, my lack of hydrophobia is now gone. We have been in the middle of the sea during a thunderstorm lasting for days. I blink and wipe water from my face. Then, for the first time, I wished it would stop raining. The entire crew, including the PBs, is up on deck, pulling on ropes and adjusting the sails. I have no idea what I am doing most of the time, but this won't stop my dreams of becoming a pirate, so I try my best. All I hear is distorted yelling under the thunder and rain. Orders are being shouted and the crew begins a new task of not letting the ship sink. Exhausted and drenched, I am thankful when the rain lets up a bit.

My friends and I decide to take a small break from the work. We gather at the side of the ship, leaning against the rail.

Katie is squinting her eyes, looking at something up ahead. I follow her line of sight and through the rain, I can make out a small island, not too far away from us. It looks like any other island, except there is something different about the beach. I crane my neck and I see in the middle of the water-darkened sand, there is a large, black object. When I realize what this object is, it comes as a shock.

"The Pearl." Is all Katie has to say, and Emma automatically goes to find Jack.

"Oh no." I mutter. My friends Nim and Meg are supposedly on board the Black Pearl. I haven't seen them since I came back to the Pirate world, and I hope they are alright. "Should we go help them?" I ask Katie.

"No, they have only run aground until the storm passes." It is not Katie who answers my question, but Jack. Emma has just returned with him.

"Is the storm that dangerous? Should we ground too?" I wonder.

"The Pearl, being bigger and grander than this boat we are on, can't handle the winds. Barbossa won't set sail until after the storm." Jack explains.

"At least we have caught up to them. Should we talk to them?" Emma asks.

"As much as I want to, I don't think it is a good idea." says Katie. Then more quietly, "They may not listen to us."

"And if they don't listen to us, the Pearl will easily beat us to the Fountain." Jack adds.

Feeling betrayed, we exchange questions like, "How could they do this to us?" and "Why are they doing this?" Jack doesn't say anything, but we know he is thinking, "How could she take the Pearl?"

We pass the island and eventually get back to our duties. We try to concentrate on the ship, but we can only think what will happen when we finally confront Nim face-to-face.


	11. Island

**Another load of reviews - I love you guys! If you could recommend this story to some others I'd appreciate it muchly. Here's Katie...**

Chapter 11 - Katie

For once it seems as if Calypso has given us a break, the day and seas are clear for the moment. The midday heat is not so forgiving, and I lean over the ship's railing, looking down at the inviting crystal clear blue-green waters. I let myself be mesmerized by the swirling water as it dances along the side of the ship. Suddenly a voice breaks me out of my trance and I turn around to see Jack, looking pleased with himself.

"I think we've arrived at our destination," he grins.

I see a lush island in front of us, not too far off in the distance. Something about this island is different from the others that we've seen. It is the most beautiful area we have come across, yet it's also inconspicuous, like the island wants to be hidden. If we didn't have this mission and weren't on the lookout for the Fountain of Youth, I have a feeling that we wouldn't have thought about stopping at this particular place. I walk across the deck of our borrowed vessel to where the others are standing.

"It feels like that island is… calling," Kirsti says, slightly mystified.

"I feel it too," I answer. I wonder if this is how Barbossa and the other cursed pirates felt when they were close to Elizabeth's medallion.

"We should anchor in that bay, let Barbossa take in the sight of defeat," Jack announces proudly.

Emma turns to look at Jack with a mischievous look on her face. "You know we just defeated your precious Pearl, I guess it's not the fastest ship in the Caribbean after all."

Everyone except for Jack looks extremely amused. Kirsti and I try to hold in our laughter, but we aren't very successful at it, and when Jack stares at us, it only makes it worse.

"Well…even a ship as good as the Pearl can falter when it's steered by an… inferior captain. Just as an inferior ship can rise to greatness when an exceptional captain is leading it. Now I don't see why this is so surprising to you lot." He walks over to where Kirsti and I are still trying to hold it together. "Especially you two. Let us not waste any more time. To the bay!"

Jack goes to the ship's wheel as the rest of us go to our duties. The closer we get, the stronger the island's pull seems to be. Jack seems to feel it too and he studies the island intently. The air seems to be invigorating, freeing and at the same time forbidden. It almost feels as if we've entered a place that we are not supposed to be, as if what is in the air is meant for something greater than any of us could imagine. There is also a hint of something that does not feel right, almost like a poison that is slowly seeping outward. We finally reach the entrance of the bay, after what seems like a lifetime.

"We should go ashore and see if we can find where the Fountain of Youth might be, while you and Norrington get the ship in order," I announce as Jack quickly waves his hand in approval. We proved our abilities back in the maelstrom six weeks ago.

"We'll most likely be back before the sun starts to set," Emma adds. Norrington gives us a look that makes me certain that he noticed the same thing I did in the air.

"Take weapons with you. You'll need to be able to defend yourselves if you run into problems. It will take us a little while before we can reach you." Norrington looks worried, but for whatever reason I'm not as concerned about the weird feeling the island gives off. Emma and Kirsti don't look like they are worried about it either, and seem a little surprised at Norrington's reaction to what we are going to do. Maybe it's just a difference between our modern upbringing and the times we're in that makes us surprised. I don't think any of us are sure why we would need weapons on an uninhabited island. Especially since we are just going to quickly look around to see if we find any leads.

"I think we'll be fine. There aren't any other boats anchored around here. We probably aren't going to see anyone unless the Pearl shows up." Kirsti says confidently.

"I insist upon it. Something's not right here, I wouldn't want any of you getting hurt." Norrington goes to where the weapons are stored under the deck, and we take the time to get some of our own supplies from the cabin. A minute later he comes up with three pistols, gunpowder, and shot for all of us. Jack, with a little bit of help from Elizabeth, has already got the longboat ready.

I take the last pistol from Norrington, thank him and turn to follow Emma and Kirsti, but I feel Norrington's hand on my shoulder stopping me, and I turn to look at him.

"Promise me, if you run into any problems, shoot and Jack and I will come as quickly as we can. There's something about this place that isn't right. We can't afford for any of you to get captured."

"Like Kirsti said before I don't thi-"

"Just promise."

I think I realize why Norrington is so worried. It has to do with what the man in Tortuga said, and we can't afford to lose anyone, especially with Barbossa, Nim, and Meg against us too.

"Ok."

I contemplate for a second about asking him what he thinks about the eerie presence that we all seem to be feeling, but I quickly decide not too. It can wait until after we look around the island a bit. Even if Norrington seems to be more concerned about the presence than the rest of us, he isn't going to know any more than we do. Not until we see what this place has in store for us at least. He takes his hand off my shoulder, I flash a quick smile and then I walk to where the others are at the longboat as I attach the pistol to my belt. Emma is already in.

"Good luck Emma. I'm not so sure about you two." He looks and Kirsti and I with a playful smirk.

"We wouldn't want to sail under any other captain but you, Jack." Kirsti replies. I nod in agreement.

"You are the most legendary pirate to sail these waters after all." I add.

"That's more like it. Good luck to all of you!" he says with a sense of accomplishment. Elizabeth smiles and waves to us before turning back with Jack.

We are almost to the beach, and we can see that there is something just at the edge of the sand in the distance but we can't quite make it out.

"I guess we should start there then," Emma says nonchalantly. We land the longboat a little bit away from the area we want to explore and then start our little adventure.

"Looks like it might be a cave," I say nervously as we get close enough to see it more clearly. "That weird feeling the island has seems to be coming from there." I never really liked caves. But as we get closer to it I realize that the invigorating and freeing feeling is coming from it too.

"The Fountain of Youth has to be related to that cave somehow," Kirsti says quietly. Once we are about twenty-five feet from the cave entrance we hear something moving nearby. We all stop and look to see where the noise is coming from. Suddenly two ragged looking men jump out from behind the foliage.

"Hey, get away! Ya can't go in there." The shorter of the pirates yells, slurring slightly.

We stand for a moment in shock, not sure what to do, and Emma breaks the silence.

"What are you doing here standing guard? We've only come ashore to get fresh water. We're running low."

The two men laugh. They look as if they've come straight from a long night of drinking in Tortuga.

"Why would a group of two-penny whores be on the seas anyway? One woman on a ship is bad enough luck. I would think that with three, that you'd have drowned in the ocean by now!" the other one quips.

"Hey! You don't know anything about us!" I spit back. Before I realize it, everyone has their swords out.

"Maybe you should speak for yourselves. You two don't look like you would be able to point out a ship even if it were right in front of you."

The two pirates look taken aback at Kirsti's insult, but then the expression on their faces quickly changes to anger.

"Where the hell are you two from? I've never heard an English accent like that before."

Kirsti and I look at each other briefly in a panic. Neither of us had thought about our accents before. Not only would our modern speech be out of place and suspicious enough on its own, but our American accents wouldn't even exist yet. I quickly try to think of what to say before they get too suspicious. The last thing we would need is them thinking that we are witches or something else supernatural.

"We-We're originally from the colonies. Pennsylvania." I hope that my answer is enough for them.

"A Yankee, huh? I ain't never met anyone from the colonies," the short one answers.

"We can't let you go to the water in that cave. Not unless our Master wants you. Not that'll you have a chance anyway, he'll rule over everyone on the seas, even women pirates like yourselves."

"Your… master?" Emma tries to disguise her attempt at getting them to reveal his identity.

I move my hand closer to my pistol, remembering what Norrington said earlier. I hope I won't need to use it. I'm afraid it would only complicate and make things worse, even if it meant help was on the way. Suddenly, the pirate who first insulted us shoves his companion back as he starts to rush towards us in a rage.

"You dare to ask for his name? None of you are good enough for Moran! I'll send you down to the depths of Hell, you filthy wenches!"

The sound of his pistol going off rings in our ears, and I look in shock as leaves fall next to Emma as she looks towards her attacker. She is lucky that he missed. He still looks angry. He then turns back and rips the pistol from the other's belt and cocks it to shoot again.

"Don't worry. I won't miss this time."

"Run back!" I realize I don't have any other choice and pull out my own pistol and shoot in the direction of the guards to throw them off before I start running after my friends. I hear them curse about being shot at by a woman and start to argue about whether to follow us. I am relieved to not hear the second pistol fired or to hear the sound of them behind us but no one dares to stop. We reach the longboat and push off from the shore, heading back to the ship, gathering our thoughts and composure to explain what happened on the beach.


	12. Can't Always Save the World

Chapter 12 - Nim

Another day passes uneventfully. I spend most of it in the cabin with Meg, not speaking or doing anything, just sitting. Absorbed in our own thoughts. When I go into the crew's mess to get some bread for our lunch, one of the crew members tells me we will reach the bay where the Fountain lies at sunset. Preparing myself to tell Meg, I go back into the cabin.

"We'll get there at sunset tonight." I say, handing her some bread and sitting back on my bed to eat the meagre lunch.

"Tonight?" she asks. There is something unknown in her expression, and I hope she is having doubts about gaining immortality. That she won't go through with it.

"Yes. We should be prepared." I tell her, and she nods vaguely.

By the time the sun is dipping low in the sky, turning the undersides of the clouds red as a warning, I start getting ready to go ashore with her, pulling on my boots, affixing my sword and pistol to my belt. Meg eventually follows suit, and we go up on deck.

I know that something is wrong immediately, because the crew are gathered at the front of the ship, looking ahead of us. What do they see? Anxious, I rush into the crowd, pushing and keeping hold of Meg's hand so I can see. We're headed for a small bay, surrounded by steep cliffs covered in rich, lush foliage. The sea glitters with the dying sun. But we won't be getting into the bay; a ship is anchored across it, a ship much smaller than the Pearl but still blocking our way completely.

"Who is it? Pirates?" I ask, shielding my eyes with my hand and squinting at the flag.

"Sparrow." a crewman says, pointing at the flag insistently. Sure enough, I can just make out the red sparrow on the black fabric, Jack's own colours. My heart leaps and falls in the same moment. They came after us. But why? How did they beat us here?

"Meg..." I breathe. "It's Jack." We leave the crowd and stand on the foredeck together. Meg looks almost angry, undeterred in her plan, just feeling mutinous that they turned up. It makes me want to kill her, to be honest. I've never felt more strongly about how utterly stupid her plan is.

"Man the guns!" Barbossa shouts from the helm and I forget Meg completely. Fear lends speed to my feet as I run to him.

"No! Captain Barbossa, let me go and speak with Jack! He probably only came to protect Meg and me. He's of no threat; look at how small the ship is! There can only be six guns!" I've never spoken faster in my life. Barbossa looks at me from beneath the brim of his weathered hat. Slowly, he turns back to the crew who run back and forth.

"Alright, belay that! Lower the anchor!" he shouts to them.

"Thank you." I exhale and go back down the steps to where Meg is waiting, still looking angry. "Meg, I'm going aboard to speak with Jack. Will you come?"

She is silent for a moment, scuffing the toe of her boot against the deck's worn planks. She lowers her eyes and I know what her answer is. Sighing, I leave her there, ask two crewmen to help me prepare one of the longboats. They look wary, turn to Barbossa for orders. He just nods.

The two men I've enlisted to help lower the boat row me over to the little schooner Jack has obviously borrowed. Anticipation makes my heart race, my palms sweat. Will they be angry with me? Will they understand Meg's need? Will I even be able to tell them?

When I climb to the half deck, unaided, I am almost immediately swept up by Jack, who hugs me tightly against him.

"What were you thinking?" he asks quietly.

"I... I meant to bind Calypso for you. And Meg... Meg needed help, she promised to help Barbossa take the Pearl. I saw her leaving and agreed to accompany her..." I take a deep breath, look up, see him smiling at me, amused. "I'm sorry I stole your ship."

"It's alright." he laughs. "There's someone here to see you." he puts his arm round my shoulders and leads me into the Grand Cabin where my friends stand in a group; Emma, Elizabeth, Norrington, Katie, Kirsti... Kirsti? She smiles as shock registers on my face.

"How did you get here?" I ask, going over to them.

"The locket. Something must have opened up, because I was able to get back to this world." Kirsti explains. Her face becomes serious. "Between worlds, I spoke with Calypso. She explained that if you bind her permanently at the Fountain, you have to take her place."

I let her words sink in. Take her place....

"Like...?"

"Davy Jones and Will." Elizabeth finishes my sentence, looking worried. We all exchange looks. If they hadn't caught up, I would have become a sea goddess forever, taken away from my friends. I think I need to sit down.

"I have serious explaining to do. Meg wanted to go to the Fountain to become immortal. She wants to go and be with Will on the Dutchman."

"Forever?" Katie looks indignant.

"Yes." I sigh. Sitting on the edge of the captain's table, I explain everything; how we took the Pearl, our trip aboard the Dutchman, Meg's behaviour. It's relieving to tell it all to my friends, to have them listen and accept it, more people sharing the problems I've kept to myself for this whole journey.

"There's more." Norrington says when I've finished and we are all silent, thinking about Meg's dreadful choice. "We sent a party ashore to see this Fountain of Youth for ourselves, and they met with some rather menacing guards."

"They said that their master would soon control the seas, that the Fountain was his." Kirsti interrupts. "Someone knows about its link to Calypso, I'm sure. And they want to enslave the seas."

"That man in Shipwreck Cove..." Emma says quietly. Everyone looks at her, confused. I am clearly not the only one who has heard nothing of this. "I spoke to a man in the Cove, the night we were looking for a ship, and he said his old captain was a cruel man. He ranted about it for ages..." she looks at us fearfully. "He called him his master too. I thought nothing of it at the time, but it seems a strange coincidence for both of them to use that word, right?"

"It's not what you'd normally call a captain." Katie agrees. "Did he say what this master was called?"

"Captain Moran." Emma says certainly. "His name was Captain Moran."

"Moran?" Jack and Norrington say in unison.

Emma nods, and there is a moment of silence. All the PBs are just about to ask the significance of this name, when Jack speaks again.

"I need to speak with Barbossa." he looks grim. "Nim, we're going back to the Pearl."

I nod, turn back to my friends. We say quick goodbyes and I go with Jack to the door of the Grand Cabin.

"We'll meet here in the morning, all of us, to discuss what we're going to do next." Jack says to the room at large. "I'll sleep on the Pearl. I can't have Barbossa runnin' off with my ship again."

"Until tomorrow, everyone." I say grimly, giving a small wave as we disappear over the side of the ship, lowering ourselves into the rowing boat where the two men from the Pearl are still waiting. They look a little surprised to see Jack, but they row us back without a word. Jack's hand closes around mine.

The two captains, Jack and Barbossa, speak in quiet murmurs at the helm. I watch for a short while, but there is nothing I can do. Finally, I ask a passing crewman if they have seen Meg. He says she is in the cabin. Sighing, I go below to find her.

Meg sits in the cabin, knees drawn up to her chin on the bed, scowling at the wall. She doesn't even look up when I come in and my anger rears up again. I came into this strange pirate world with her at my side, convinced we would go through anything together. Now, she is lost to me. Her weakness disgusts me. I sit opposite her, curling my feet up under me, forcing her to look at me.

"None of us think you should do it." I say honestly.

"It has nothing to do with any of you." her voice is surprisingly icy. I didn't know she was capable of such coldness. "I can't bear life without him. It has no meaning."

"Be that as it may, there are other things to consider." I suppress my anger, clenching my fists under my knees to keep from strangling her. "Kirsti has returned from the 21st century."

Meg looks up at this, eyes wide momentarily, before sinking back into her old attitude.

"How did she do that, then?" she asks in a flat voice.  
"Calypso... something allowed her to pass through." I explain. "She said that if anyone binds Calypso at the Fountain of Youth, they have to take her place." I try to keep going, but my voice stops in my throat. I try again. "Meg, that's why I came with you. I was going to bind Calypso." I don't have to tell her the truth. But I do it anyway.

"Right." she smiles wryly and I feel even lower, if that's even possible. "You came with me so you could bind Calypso."

"Yeah. I... I did." I wring my hands together. "Meg, you can't do it! There's someone called Captain Moran... he wants to enslave the seas! Can't you see it's happening again? Adventure, Meg! What we came here for! We need you. I need you." I'm alive with the possibility of it, frightened of what we face and frustrated that I can't make her react with the same enthusiasm.

"And I need him." she says simply.

"Look, don't do it yet!" I stand up, pace about the cabin. Why am I so claustrophobic in here? "Come with us, help us find out about this Moran guy, and then... then if you still decide to go through with it... to become immortal, I won't try to stop you." I finish, looking at her desperately.

"You'll let me do it? Without saying anything?" she returns my look.

"I swear it."

"Fine." she slumps back against the bed. "I'll wait until we've saved the world again. But you have to accept we can't always do it."

"Do what?" I am distracted by what's ahead, and I think I'm pacing again.

"Save the world." Meg pulls me down. "You must accept it, Nim."

I don't say another word before I go to bed, but somewhere in my head, I know she's right... even if I don't want to admit it.


	13. Where Our Fortunes Be

**OK, so I am officially retarded and I messed up the chapters. I missed this one out, because I'm stupid. Sorry if you've already read the two that come after this, but you could always read them again :) And no one apart from the BEYOND EPIC Delu reviewed, so it will give you a chance to redeem yourselves. The opportune moment, in fact. Here's Emma...**

Chapter 13 - Emma

We all gather on the deck of the Pearl, bathed in the early morning light. The red glow of the sun bounces across the water, making it look like we are sailing on a sea of fire. I can barely tear my eyes away from the beauty of it.

Nevertheless, I drag myself back into the conversation and listen intently. I refuse to die because of a stupid sunrise and an overactive imagination. I'm ever so sentimental when it comes to nature.

I look around the assembled group and notice one person missing. My eyes flick between everyone a few more times and realise it's Meg.

"Where's Meg?" I mutter to Nim.

I wonder why she would miss such an important meeting. I myself want to know everything about this Captain Moran and his crew, who apparently think it dandy to grab women by their collars in taverns and threaten them in a most unseemly manner. I want revenge for that little episode.

"She didn't really feel up to the meeting," Nim answers, "That's all I could get out of her for the moment."

I nod and sigh. I, like the others, am worried about Meg. At the same time, I also find myself slightly afraid of her. It is not that she is threatening in appearance, far from it, it is the lengths to which she is willing to go, to get what she wants. I understand her love for Will but we all have to work together in this.

I turn back to the rest of the group and see Jack straightening his hat with great purpose. He clears his throat and all attention turns to him. I wait with baited breath; this could really turn out to be one hell of an adventure.

Jack stands, looking at each of us in turn with a solemn expression.

"Will you just get on with it," snaps Kirsti.

I grin at Jack's surprised recoil.

"Just tryin' to create suspense is all." he mutters

Barbossa rolls his eyes and decides to begin, finally.

"Captain Moran is an extremely infamous pirate. Not much is known about him. All that is known is that he is, how to put this…."

"Two medallions short of a curse." interjects Jack.

Barbossa shoots Jack a glare and nods,

"We'll say that. As I recall he requested to join the Brethren Court but to no avail. The other Lords did not wish to associate with such a strange and power hungry man, these traits and his widely feared cruelty being all that was known of him,"

Barbossa pauses and Jack jumps in with great pleasure.

"'course, everyone agreed that he could not be trusted wif the power that a lordship brought,"

"And yet you could?" interrupts Norrington, disbelievingly.

Jack raises an eyebrow and smirks, holding the lapels of his coat.

"I happen to be well respected in the court, Norrie. Other pirates look up to me."

Barbossa laughs derisively.

"No, they put up with you, you blitherin' idiot. Get back to the story!"

Jack takes a moment to look hurt but goes back to speaking when no one shows an ounce of sympathy.

"I've never seen a pirate explode the way 'e did when we turned him away. Quite frightening, weren't it, Hector?", Barbossa grunts and nods, "We ne'r heard from 'im again after 'e left the court. Looks like 'e's come back for another go at power. As that pirate Emma met said, 'e's a cruel man. Do not underestimate 'im. He can hold a calm exterior but inside…he's bubblin' wif rage."

I let out a breath I did not realise I'd been holding. I was right, it would be one hell of an adventure. One that I was now scared to embark upon. Captain Moran did not sound like the type of man one would like to cross. Too bad that I had already done just that. The pirate's threatening voice seemed to echo through the silence that now enveloped the deck.

"Captain Moran don't like little girls trying to interfere with his business so don't you go saying anything to anyone. You hear me….Don't be telling' no one lass!"

I gulp and try to remain calm. For once I actually fear I may die in this world and it is not a nice thought. I have been known for my dramatics but this possibility for death seems all too real.

"So, we're still left with a mystery." says Katie, frowning, "Why is he guarding the Fountain of Youth?"

I hop up to sit on a railing and swing my legs.

"Tortuga?" I ask.

At this one word everyone but Norrington grins.

"Aye," says Jack, "Tortuga."

I feel excitement course through me and I know the other PBs feel the same. Tortuga! Perhaps there we would discover someone who could tell us more about Moran.

Barbossa marches past us, heading for the helm.

"Weigh anchor! Prepare to make sail!"

"Barbossa!" I call, "How long 'til we arrive in Tortuga?"

"'bout three days, if the powers be with us." he replies, without turning.

I groan. Three days? I'm an absolute calamity on a ship and now I'm certain I'm going to cause a catastrophe. Perhaps I could just stay in the crows nest and watch for oncoming ships. No, that's no good; I'd fall or be attacked by birds. The latter being more likely. I always attract the trouble in its more unusual forms.

Nim, Kirsti, Katie and I walk across the deck and sit beside Jack on the stairs. He swigs a bottle of rum and leans back, singing what sounds like a sea shanty.

"_Out to the sea, out to the sea, float the souls of dead sailors, out to the sea.  
Out to the sea, out to the sea, lie the treasures of shipwrecks, out to the sea.  
Out to the sea, out to the sea, may we all sail out there, where our fortunes be_."

I laugh and clap, surprised by his rather smooth voice. I'd always loved sea shanties but no one had ever taught me any.

Jack mock bows and rises to his feet, swaying, as is the usual.

"What is the matter with young Megan?" he asks, "I can sense when a lady is ill at ease."

We all sigh and share a look.

"We're not exactly sure, Jack." replies Nim, "But I suggest we find out just now."

The four of us descend below decks. The warm light from the sun is non-existent here and I find myself shivering. We approach Meg's door. Nim raps on the wood and tries the handle straight away but we are still left outside. Meg must have blocked it from the inside.

Nim knocks on the wood louder now.

"Meg!" she calls, "Let us in. Please!"

No answer. I lean against the wall and look at everyone in turn. We are all trying out best but Meg seems to be oblivious to our attempts or she chooses to ignore them. If we hold out a hand she bats it away.

I hear a shuffling on the other side of the door and we all pause, hoping that it is her coming to open the door and welcome us back into her life but it isn't and I doubt it ever will be.

After banging on her door for another 15 minutes we give up and silently walk up to the main deck. Out joy at being together again has been dampened and a forlorn feeling has spread through each of us.

All of us stand by the rail and watch our other ship disappear into the distance. It had to be left behind for us to move quickly and to avoid questioning from the navy. I watch it melt in to the sea with a heavy heart. Meg was worrying all of us. Only time would tell what her recent depression would bring.


	14. Tortuga

Chapter 14 - Kirsti

The smell of rum replaces the smell of the sea when we arrive in Tortuga late at night. We have decided that Jack, Norrie, and Barbossa are to go to one tavern, and the PBs to another. All of the PBs, if Meg comes along.

"Are you sure you don't want to help us?" I ask her.

Her only answer is to look at me, as if she is too depressed just to say, "No."

I don't want to pressure her into coming with us, but I feel it would be good for her to get out. I get the rest of the PBs to help convince her. However, Meg doesn't want confrontation and gives up when she sees us coming towards her.

"Oh, fine!" She wails and tags along with us.

We head into a tavern after walking inland for a bit. Emma and Katie sit down with a group of sailors, and Nim walks straight to the bar and orders a bottle of rum.

"…Haven't heard from him since he joined Moran…" I hear people talking nearby, and I drag Meg over to them.

"Why would he do that? You've heard what he does." says a man.

"What does he do?" I jump into the conversation.

"He's a cruel man that Moran. Never been the same, his crew, since they joined 'im."

"And the way they look, too," adds another sailor who absent-mindedly picks up a glass and starts drinking from it.

"What do you mean, the way they look? What do they look like?" I can't help but imagine that scary image Calypso showed me back in the 21st century.

"Hey! That's my rum!" The first man suddenly yells and grabs for the glass the second man was drinking from. "What is wrong with you?" His sudden anger makes a fight break out.

"Well, that doesn't answer my question. Let's leave." I say after a fist comes dangerously close to my head.

The rest of the girls are ready to leave, too, but we don't want to go through the crowd of angry men to get to the door. We find there is a back door and start walking down an alley. We discuss our findings on Moran, but no one has anything specific.

As we turn around a corner, a terrifying voice echoes in a deserted street. A huge man and four blank-eyed cronies are standing in front of us.

"Up to no good, what else would young wenches be doing up this late?" The leader of them says when he sees us. His eyes are black as pitch and I can't look at them without feeling like falling. He's terrifying.

None of us speak. We are too scared; being cornered by large men can't end well. The only one without a frightened look on her face is Meg. She still looks depressed.

"Master, we need to get to the ship." says one of the men.

Two of the men dive toward me and pushed me against the wall. My friends gasp and jump for me, all except for Meg.

"Let her go!" scream my friends, all but Meg.

"And you," Moran looks at Meg, "Should we let your friend go?"

"Of course," Megan mumbles.

Moran motions for his men to let me go, and walks over to Meg, and stares her straight in the face. Meg seems unbothered by how close he is standing to her. "Take this one instead," he tells his officers, "She could would be suited to a new life with us."

We begin to protest, but the officers point their weapons on us.

"Either she goes, and you live, or she goes and you die." Moran shouts at us.

"No, Meg" I barely can make out a whisper.

"I have no choice," Meg suddenly seems aware of her surroundings. For some reason, she looks at Moran with hope.

Everything is quiet for a moment while they start to leave with Meg. Nim secretly passes her locket to Meg. I don't know why, but I suppose she thinks it might afford her some protection from the horrors that may await her.

When they are out of sight, we start running as fast as we can to the Pearl.


	15. The Bargain

Chapter 15 - Nim

The night is threatening. There are no stars. The humidity that surrounds the Pearl as I stand on the deck in my worn pirate clothes is suffocating. I can't stop moving, walking between the main mast and the port rail, the capstan and the companionway leading to the quarterdeck.

"Nim, calm down." Katie says. I hear it outside myself.

"They took her." I repeat. "They took her."

"I know." Kirsti stands in front of me, blocking my path. "I know, and now we have to tell Jack, Norrie and Barbossa so we can come up with a plan."

"Going insane isn't going to help Meg." Emma adds, and I know she's right.

We burst into the Grand Cabin where the three men are sharing an uncomfortable glass of rum, the silence heavy with their dislike for one another.

"They took Meg. Pirates came, they surrounded us and they took Meg." I tell them calmly. "They took her aboard their ship. There was... there was nothing we could do."

They're all standing. Norrington and Jack exchange a look, then look expectantly to Barbossa.

"So does that mean we're setting sail again?" Barbossa says gruffly, looking with a forlorn expression at his abandoned, interrupted rum.

"Oh yes!" Jack goes out onto the deck, rallies the men. I can hear him shouting at them, getting them out of their beds to prepare the ship for sailing. Norrington smiles reluctantly, finishes his rum and follows.

"We need you at the helm, Captain Barbossa." Kirsti says.

"Alright, alright." he glares at us before going up to the quarterdeck. I hear him yell down, "Brace up the foreyard!"

We are alone in the Grand Cabin, and I'm reminded of how I felt we were too weak to fight Beckett's army alone, just the PBs against an unfathomable enemy. But we did it then. We beat him and Jones, and we survived. Weakly, I smile.

"We ought to go and help." I suggest, although the rum on the table seems to be calling to me.

"One glass won't hurt." Katie says, as if reading my mind.

Emma blocks the door with Jack's heaviest chair and we each drink a glass of rum, toasting Meg, before heading out onto the deck to make sail. The adventure is just beginning.

* * *

The festering smell of bilge water is almost enough to knock Meg out as she stands below deck, surrounded by the bedraggled, wild-eyed crew of the ship. Grimy hands tug at her arms, filthy fingers scratching at her cheeks and in her hair. They drag her to one of the struts supporting the deck above and begin to tie her hands with rough ropes.

"Enough!" a soft but carrying, deep voice echoes over their laughter and cries. The men fall silent, eerily so, backing away from Meg, lining the walls like ghosts, countless pairs of eyes watching her from the shadows. She sobs as she looks at the captain, but she is sobbing with relief. He is dressed all in black, his frock coat plain and almost shabby, and he wears a wide-brimmed black hat, not dissimilar to Barbossa's, but newer. It's pulled low over his face, and Meg can't see his eyes. But he is smiling.

"Please, are you the captain?" she asks, her voice trembling.

"Yes, Madam." he replies, his voice like music after the raspy, hideous laughter of his crewmen. "Would you like to join me in the Grand Cabin? Normally, my captors are left with the crew, but I think these are excepting circumstances." There is no emotion in his voice, but Meg feels she can trust him implicitly. He seems like the kind of man who has seen too much of the world and has been scarred by it.

"Yes, please." she nods, shivering still, and lets him lead her up the companionway, the dead silence of the crew's cabin behind her.

His cabin is different to that of the Pearl, the furniture all darker, almost black, and carved with leering creatures. It all looks very expensive, as if he has stolen from the finest of castles and fortresses in the East. His desk is meticulously tidy; black, leather-bound logbooks stacked next to a long, narrow, wooden box.

The captain removes his hat, and Meg watches him with interest as he discards it on the desk. His eyes are black and reveal nothing about him, and she finds herself mysteriously drawn to him. She doesn't want to stop looking at him.

"I know you." he says at last, sitting down and gesturing for her to follow. She sits opposite him at the desk, holding his gaze. "You were with the ones who freed Calypso, weren't you?"

"Yes." she says. "My name is Megan Turner." Meg makes her feel somehow childish, and she wants to impress this captain for some reason she hasn't yet figured.

"Of course. Captain Turner of the Flying Dutchman. That must have been terrible." the captain does not vary his tone, but Meg can hear the pity in his voice.

"Yes, it was." she looks down at her hands.

"I could offer you a solution of sorts, but I doubt it would be of any interest to you." the captain sighs quietly. "So few people have the courage to give up their mortality."

"I've plenty of courage." Meg's head darts up, and she looks at him clearly. The captain's lips curve into a smile.

"Of course, such things can't be given without payment of sorts." he continues, absently running a hand over the wooden box. "I want to bind Calypso, and I need something from you. It would appear that you need something from me. I'm sure we could strike a bargain."

"You want to bind Calypso?" Meg asks, staring at him in wonder. Something Norrington said a long time ago comes back to her, something about destinies entwining. "But, if you bind her, you have to take her place."

"I've nothing to lose." he says simply, and there is a kind of sadness in his eyes that stops her heart. She can't doubt him now. "But I need the lockets. They're rumoured to be in your possession."

"Yes, they are... I mean, they were." Meg takes a deep breath. "I've got one." she pulls the locket around her neck from beneath her shirt, unfastens it and hands it to the captain. She watches him take it from her, look at it intensely before trying to open it. It remains closed. "The other is with my friends. I mean, the ones I fought the battle with."

"Would you be able to get it from them?" he asks immediately, still preoccupied with the locket, running his long, pale fingers across the tarnished silver.

"I don't know." Meg answers, thinking about them all on the Pearl. They don't care about how much she misses Will, don't know how his scream wakes her at night, the sight of the wound on his chest, Jones standing over them. Could she betray them? Would it even be betrayal?

"You would be with him forever." the captain is looking straight into her eyes now, the locket on the desk between them. "Is there a price you would not be willing to pay for that? Friends are fleeting. The hand you hold the longest is your own."

Meg knows he's right. She believes that if their roles were reversed, Nim and the others would do the same. They would betray her, wouldn't they? She thinks back to that wretched night aboard the Dutchman, the last time she saw Will, soaking and cold, confused and diseased with the bitterness her situation had brought her. She would give anything to have him back. Anything? Yes, she thinks to herself, I would give absolutely anything.

"I am sure I could retrieve your locket, Captain." Meg says at last, looking at him once more. "So long as you can guarantee my immortality."

"My dear, I will be replacing Calypso herself." he smiles slightly, but his eyes remain flat and expressionless, reflecting her own desperation back to her like black mirrors. "I can guarantee anything you like."


	16. Adrift

**Here's a chapter we missed out last time. I really must be the most retarded person. Thanks for sticking by this story. **

Chapter 16 - Nim

"Nim! Nim! Wake up!" someone's shaking me awake. Ready to kill them, I open my eyes and see Jack leaning over me, his hands tight on my shoulders. Curse him. Shaking him off me, I turn over with a groan. Why can the whole adventure not just wait until after midday? "Nim, wake up, I tell you!" Jack pokes me, and this time I turn back to him slowly, glaring.

"Yes?" I say deliberately.

"We lost them. We lost the pirates' ship in the night somehow." he sighs. "Barbossa was meant to be watching out, but he wasn't." there's resentment in his voice.

"We've lost Meg?" my heart sinks, and I flop back onto the bed. How could this be? Even though she has been a complete mystery to me these past weeks, the loss of my friend is still something I can't bear. "What are we going to do?" I ask wearily.

"There's more. We came upon a longboat, set adrift overnight." Jack smiles slightly at me. "Meg was in it. She's fine, cold and tired, but fine." he assures me when I fight against him to get up. "They're hauling her aboard now."

"Oh, thank God." I breathe, climbing out of bed with a little less panic and finding a shawl on the chair. Meg's bed remains unslept-in, but I'm not worried any more. She's alright. She's alright!

Pushing past Jack, I go up to the half deck, rushing towards the small crowd gathered near the starboard rail. The PBs come round to where I stand, trying my best to push delicately past the pirates. They're all dressed for another day's work on the ship, and I suddenly feel somewhat stupid in my nightdress and shawl.

"They just set her adrift?" Katie asks incredulously.

"It would seem like it." Emma replies, but we're all waiting with baited breath as Meg ascends the rope thrown down the side of the Pearl for her. I think I'm expecting someone injured and afraid, but the Meg I see is smiling, completely unhurt, but shivering a little from her night aboard a cold, small boat tossed upon the open ocean.

"Meg!" I hurry forwards, hug her and wrap my shawl round her shoulders. She gives us all her weak smile as we usher her into the grand cabin, leaving Jack, Norrington and Elizabeth in our wake. "Meg, what happened? Why did they leave you? Are you hurt?"

She sits on Jack's large leather chair, the rest of us sitting in a row on the desk in front of her, papers scattered either side of us. For a moment, she's silent, looking at us all with shock.

"They... they released me." she laughs. "Once they realized the Pearl was chasing them, they released me, knowing they'd be no match for her." Meg looks so pleased to be back, her eyes alight with relief, it's as if the grim, wilting creature we've had since Will's departure on the Dutchman never existed. This girl is full of life.

"That's great!" Kirsti laughs too, and soon we're all laughing wildly and without restraint. For the first time in so long, it feels like we're just all together again, not with the terrible past hanging over us.

"Nim?" Jack pokes his head round the door and I turn. He gestures for me to follow him outside, and I do, still wiping the tears from my eyes. Where we stand, out on the half deck, the wind is warm and comforting as it blows my hair about my face. He stands before me, smiling slightly at how relieved I look. "We're going to keep following that ship. It seems to be going in the direction of the Fountain of Youth. It's worth looking at."

"Alright." I reply, momentarily distracted by him, just as I used to be. "But if we find nothing, I think we should return to Tortuga. There could be more to be discovered there, about Moran and all." Also, we're rather low on rum...

"Yes. I'll put it to Barbossa." Jack looks resentful at the mention of his fellow captain. "Why can't we lose that slimy cur once and for all?"

"You will." I wrap my arms round him, talking into the lapels of his coat. He rests his chin on my head, speaks in a low voice.

"You still always seem to know what's going to happen." His words remind me of how I really know nothing. I look up at him.

"It's just an instinct." I smile, and he kisses me lightly, arms closing around me. It feels like it has been an age since we were just together like this, without all the other things intruding like rain hammering insistently on a window. I don't want to let go. "I'd better get back to see Meg." I whisper finally. He reluctantly lets me go.

"She'll be fine now, Nim." he smiles roguishly.

"Yes?"  
"It's an instinct." he laughs, and I laugh with him, hoping it's true.

The rest of the day is spent up on the quarterdeck, all the PBs together, while Jack steers the ship and Norrington spends an unhappy afternoon closeted in the Grand Cabin with Barbossa, charting our course. The sunshine leaves us all lazy and sleep-drunk, resting against barrels or the ship's railings, the salty air keeping us cool. It's the most peaceful day I've had in a long time. I can barely remember my promise to Meg about Will.

She explains everything about the ship; its leering crewmen who took her below into the cabin and would've killed her if not for the captain. She describes him clearly; a handsome man in fine black clothes with mysterious black eyes. As she says it, I wonder what are the chances of me getting Jack to dress in a black velvet coat and hat...

Apart from that, we talk in low voices about times past, before we arrived in this world and after. Meg remains fairly quiet, and I know she is still recovering from her ordeal and coming round to the fact that Will was not all she had in this world. I'm content, at the moment, to let her have her silence. And all afternoon, she wears her half-smile that puts us all to shame. No worry marks her face.

After dinner in the grand cabin with Norrington, Elizabeth, Barbossa and Jack, we all sit there at the table, full and slightly drunk on the copious amounts of rum we've had.

"We can defeat Moran!" Norrington slurs a little as he speaks, his hat askew. I want to ask him why he's wearing a hat indoors, but I find I can only laugh at how silly he looks. "Why are you laughing?" he looks challengingly at me.

"No reason." I cackle, managing to speak between laughs. "Of course we can defeat him. We've got the Pearl!" I gesture grandly at the ship around us.

"Aye." Barbossa adds grimly, throwing his silver knife into the table, pulling it back out and throwing it again. "But he's got Calypso."

We fall silent, too recently acquainted with what that means to contradict him at all. The ship creaks ominously around us, answering everyone's silent doubts with its sure path through the waves.

"I'm going to bed." Meg says at last, getting up and giving everyone a little wave. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Meg!" we chorus as she leaves.

"There's something not quite right about her." Elizabeth frowns at the door where Meg stood a moment ago, the candlelight illuminating her curious expression, throwing the planes of her face into sharp relief. I'm suddenly chilled.

"What do you mean?" I demand.

"I can't quite say..." Elizabeth bites her lip, still frowning.

"Quiet, Elizabeth." Jack commands her in a dangerous voice.

"Excuse me?" Norrington buts in, straightening his hat. Next thing we know, it'll be pistols at dawn.

"Children, please!" I say calmly, and both of them look sullenly into the distance. "We should all go to bed really. Tomorrow, we'll reach the Fountain."

"I'm going to walk on deck for a while." Katie gets up first. "Anyone care to join me?"

The PBs all agree to walk before turning in, Norrington and Elizabeth retiring sulkily to their cabin near mine and Meg's, Barbossa joining the crew below and Jack standing in his grand cabin, looking at the rum with determination.

"Nim!" he catches me before I follow my friends into the star-filled night. "You come back here when y0u're done walking the decks." his order and the rum in my bloodstream make me feel slightly faint.

"Alright then." I reply, giving him a quick smile before leaving and pulling the door shut behind me.

We go up to the quarterdeck, where we sat earlier, all of us sinking onto the floor. Murtogg, who is at the helm, pays us no mind, just keeps steering dully, his eyes drooping with tiredness.

"What did Jack ask you, Nim?" Emma asks, smiling wryly.

"Nothing important." I reply evasively. I wonder if it would be rude to leave them now and return to the grand cabin? Resigned, I think it probably would. "Kirsti, where's your locket?" I notice the absence of Calypso's locket around my friend's neck and take the opportunity to change the subject.

"Oh, I must've left it in the cabin." Kirsti's hand goes to her neck, and she frowns. "I'll just go check."

She gets up, leaving the rest of us to sit lazily in silence, too full and drunk to think of anything worth saying. The stars continue their passive watch as we sit, the sails barely stirring in the night wind.

"Why can't it always be this calm?" Katie asks, her voice heavy with rum and the kind of frustration one can only feel when drunk. I look over the rail, notice that we're sailing past a long, thin island, the beach gleaming white in the starlight. It reminds me of Jack, and again I wonder how quickly I can get to the grand cabin without seeming rude. He chased me across an island like that once...

"Because there's always something to fight for." Emma replies quietly, and I can't help but agree. I know Meg was right when she told me I couldn't keep saving the world, but what kind of person would I be if I didn't try?

"Kirsti." I hear a quiet, familiar voice on the deck below. It's Meg. My other friends hear it too, and we creep over to the railing to look down at the half deck where Kirsti is coming up the companionway, half-turned on the step to look at Meg, who is a few rungs below her. "Where are you going?" she asks.

"We're all up on the quarterdeck." Kirsti replies. "Couldn't you sleep? You should come join us."

Meg has lost the smile she has been wearing all day, and she has changed her clothes, now wearing trousers, boots and a leather waistcoat, pistol on her belt. Practical clothes. There is something wrong, something strange in the determined set of her mouth as she follows Kirsti up the steps to the half deck and just stands there.

"Are you coming?" Kirsti asks, uncertainty creeping into her tone.

"I think I'll pass." Meg says, her voice flat. She draws the pistol, her movements seeming jerky, infinitesimally slow. I hear the soft snick as she cocks it, points it at Kirsti's head. "Give me the locket."

Then, we're all up and running, the three of us charging down onto the half deck to confront Meg where she stands, frozen, opposite Kirsti.

"Meg, what do you think you're doing?" Emma shouts.

"I didn't want to have to do this. It's my only chance." Meg glances at the island off our port bow. "Give me the locket." she says again to Kirsti.

"Don't do it!" I yell to Kirsti, drawing my own pistol. I've always been a better shot than Meg, infinitely quicker, even if she would easily out-sword me. Deftly, I shoot the pistol from her hand, where it skitters across the deck and discharges in a burst of orange that rips the night.

There's a moment in which Meg is standing, looking at her hand where the pistol was only moments before, completely still and silent. But then the world rights itself again, and she turns and runs from us. She's a blur through the night as she dives swiftly off the port bow, the splash echoing around us, louder than the gunshot.

"Meg! Meg!" we run to the rail where she jumped from, half-expecting to still see her standing there or something. I haven't figured what has happened yet. It's strange and makes no sense, and I scream her name til I'm hoarse. "Meg!"

"Why did she do that?" Kirsti looks shaken, clutching the locket with frantic fingers, clearly still expecting Meg to return and take it from her. "Why did she do it?"

"She wanted the locket." Katie looks down at the water where we can see Meg swimming hard for the island. "But why?"

"I'll bloody shoot her from here!" Emma yells out into the darkness, though Meg either doesn't hear or isn't listening. She's well and truly beyond our reach now.

Elizabeth's words in the grand cabin come back to me, and I visibly shiver. There's something not quite right about her. Why would she want the locket so much she'd threaten Kirsti for it?

"I don't know what's going on." I sigh. "But I think we need to get to the Fountain. And soon."

We exchange a grim look, just before the cabin doors burst open, Jack c0mes out, asking loudly why he heard shots, Norrington, Elizabeth and Barbossa following from below. The night is no longer silent.

"Look!" Katie shouts, looking out into the distance. We follow her gaze, and there's no mistaking it; the pirate ship that took Meg. It's coming round the end of the long, narrow island behind us, slowing down, its anchor chain echoing in the dark.

"It's picking her up..." Emma is revolted, confused as we all are.

"It is." Barbossa says, startling us. We didn't know he was so close behind, looking out at the ship with his telescope.

"She was taking the locket back to him." I say, briefly explaining to Jack and the others what just happened. They look at me, horrified.

"Who would want Calypso's locket?" Elizabeth asks, looking round at everyone.

"Someone who knows about Calypso." Kirsti says. I can tell she is thinking back to her between-worlds conversation with the sea goddess. "Someone who knows about the Fountain."

"We have to consider the possibility that that ship..." Barbossa lowers his telescope and shares a wary look with me. "...is captained by Moran."

"Moran?" I gasp. There is a chorus of frightened whispers that dies down when I speak again. "Then Meg doesn't know it. She's in danger. We have to get to the Fountain."

"Aye. Mr Murtogg!" Barbossa yells, striding up to the quarterdeck to take the helm. I feel slightly more at ease with him steering the ship, but it doesn't help the fact that I feel sick. I need to sit down.

"Nim..." Jack's arm is around my waist, supporting me. He leads me off towards his cabin, telling the others gruffly to adjust the sails for more speed. As Jack leads me, helpless, into the cabin, I can hear my friends talking. They all agree when Kirsti, in a low voice, says;

"She's going to have to accept that Meg isn't one of us any more."


	17. Night

**Sorry for the delay, guys. :( Been really busy, but we're back for some serious updating. Please keep reviewing. We love you people who do :) Here's Katie...**

Chapter 16 - Katie

Our ship is chasing after Moran's, yet he and Meg seem to be slipping out of our reach. The dark shape we have been following for a few hours gets harder and harder to make out as it swiftly cuts through the sea. Jack assured us earlier that we won't lose the ship. The plan had been to overtake it with the Pearl's speed, but he now felt that it was best to stay behind. He explained that we could easily catch up, but even if we do, it won't do us any good. Jack thought it was unlikely that Meg would listen or cooperate with us so soon after the locket incident, and we would find ourselves fighting off Moran and his crew, trying to save someone who doesn't want to be saved.

We aren't able to sleep, too upset, too angry, with what had happened. Emma, Kirsti and I are in our small cabin, restless, knowing that if we stay up much longer we will pay for it during the day. Unexpectedly, our door opens slowly. Caught off-guard by not hearing anyone in the hallway, we are relieved to see that it is only Nim. It is obvious that she hasn't sleep at all either, and she still looks distraught but better than when we last saw her.

"I'm going up onto the deck. Would anyone like to join me?"

The four of us quietly go up on deck and we sit close to where Meg jumped into the ocean, as if that will somehow reveal the reason for her betrayal. For a while, it is silent except for the sound of the ocean and the hushed creaking of the Pearl. From a distance, it may look as if we are relaxed and enjoying ourselves at the bow of the ship. A nice warm breeze is blowing, and the moon is bright enough to light the deck, enabling us to see everything clearly. Leaning against the ship's railing I turn my head to look out at the ocean in the direction of Moran's ship, still mulling over the night's events as I have done all night.

Nim finally breaks the silence. "When Meg and I first came here, it was so much fun. We were getting to live out this dream, something that neither of us could've ever thought could happen. And both of us were so happy that we were doing it together. I just wish it could've stayed that way."

"You know that she hasn't been the same since the battle," Emma points out.

"If I'd tried harder when I talked to her, maybe she wouldn't have threatened Kirsti and tried to take the locket."

"Do you guys think that Moran is really the captain of that ship?" Emma asks worriedly.

"It has to be him, it doesn't make sense for it to be anyone else." Kirsti says quickly.

"What's going to happen to Meg now? We heard what others have said about Moran, and I don't think he's going to accept failure, and that's exactly what Meg did. She failed to get the locket."

"She's in a lot of danger, but I still don't know why she would turn against us like this, why she would join Moran." As Kirsti speaks, I notice she is nervously playing with the locket and its chain.

"Will. She's betraying us… for Will. Moran must have used Will to convince her to help him." At first I'm surprised by Nim's answer but then everything clicks into place, we all remember that day at sunset when our group finally met up with Nim and the Pearl and learned of Meg's blind determination to join Will. "If she's gone this far to try to be with him, she's going to do what ever she can until she succeeds, no matter what it entails."

"So if she did make some deal with Moran, then we have to help her. She doesn't see Moran for who he really is, and we'll have to try to convince her to get away from him." Emma says encouragingly.

"But even if we help her she won't see it as that, she'll see it as us taking away her chance to be with Will. She'll just be angry and be distant like she was before." Nim sounds disparaged at the idea of Meg understanding our intentions, she is probably right.

Undeterred, Emma responds. "No, we just make sure she knows that we won't stop her from doing what she needs to do."

A moment passes before Kirsti speaks.

"So… everyone agrees that we let Meg go to the Fountain of Youth?" Kirsti looks to everyone for their answers. Nim is the only one who remains silent while Emma and I both answer yes.

"Nim, you've been with her the longest, and I know you don't like the idea of letting Meg do this, but you have to know that keeping her from it won't do anyone any good. Even if she goes back to Shipwreck Cove when this is over, she's not going to be the old Meg." I quietly tell her.

"I know, but I still don't want her to do this. I can't forgive her for what she is putting us through. She's giving everything up, throwing everything away like nothing, no one, matters." She looks out towards Moran's ship, tears starting to form, with frustration on her face. "Damnit, I wish we were going faster. Who knows what Moran is doing? Maybe if we catch up we could all talk to her…maybe she'll change her mind."

"We all wish we could get to Meg sooner rather than later. But we can't do anything about her decision to be with Will. If we keep her from becoming immortal, she'll just leave again." Emma says, trying to break Nim out of her stubbornness.

Finally Nim reluctantly agrees to let Meg follow through with her plans.

As the night goes on, we discuss how to get past Moran's crew, interjected with our unhappiness with Jack's plan, worried about what might happen to Meg while we sit here instead of trying to catch up. We get into a small argument with Jack when he briefly emerges from the grand cabin to make sure Moran's ship is just at the horizon, no farther and no closer. Even though she agrees to go with the plan, Nim is still upset about letting Meg become immortal, wanting to know why the three of us would let her do what we came to stop her from doing. In the end, we agree that we will only discuss how to get Meg off Moran's ship. Our last act of friendship is to make sure we don't fail, to get Meg before she suffers too much at Moran's hands. Eventually everyone gets tired, and our plans start getting interrupted by moments of drifting off to sleep. I try to stay awake but exhaustion wins, and I give up, allowing my eyes to close. Before falling asleep completely I hear Nim, almost asleep herself, telling us something Meg had said...

"We can't always save the world"


	18. The Fountain

**This chapter is written by me, Nim, but is from Meg's perspective. Please review this one - it's v. important. :D**

Chapter 17 - Meg

It's morning, her favourite time of day. The sun is warm on her face through the window where she sits, staring from the stern windows of Moran's ship. Her face is expressionless. She could be dead except for the rise and fall of her breathing. Her thoughts are a blur; Will, Nim, her friends, the apartment in Shipwreck Cove lit with candles and warm in the glow of the dying evening fire.

I have to focus, she thinks, trying to clear her mind. She can see the land near which they are anchored now, and she recognizes it as the island where lies the Fountain of Youth. She never saw it in the morning before; too absorbed in her mourning. At least this numbness is sweeter. No. She pushes the reflections from her mind, focuses on the lush, beautiful greenery that grows on the cliffsides surrounding the bay. Flowering trees - orange, pink, yellow, purple - show through here and there, a magical place. Her heart aches to see it in the glow of the morning sunlight. How will such beauty exist when he has taken over?

The locket Nim gave her as she was dragged from Tortuga is suddenly a weight around her neck. She removes it, looking into the familiar face of Calypso that marks the outside of it, the two crab claws joined at the top. Once it held such power; transporting them to this world, allowing Nim to bring helping friends over from the other world, lending them the strength to fight an unstoppable army, and finally letting one of their friends make the choice to return. Now, it's a useless, heavy piece of metal. Meg feels its uselessness like a sickness. Her every move seems futile. _Calypso, where the Hell are you?_

Meg opens the locket, just testing to see if it will actually open. The music is soft, lamenting something long lost, the plaintive little tune filling the still air of the grand cabin. Images crowd her head. Focus. An idea seems to form on the edges of her blurred, poisoned mind. Meg was right; when she drank the tainted water from the Fountain, it did not control her completely. But still she needs to focus, just to hold onto her own thoughts. She barely knows if it's grief or the poison that is doing this to her.

The realization dawns quickly, like the green flash breaking on the horizon, the arrival of a familiar, long-awaited ship. Yes. This is it. Getting up slowly, letting the feeling return to her limbs, Meg walks over to the glass-panelled door leading out onto the deck. The deck is clear. A light breeze flaps the sails and they creak welcomingly. Even on such a ghastly ship, she can't help but feel at home when she hears that sound.

Earlier on, when dawn was nothing more than a smudge on the horizon and Meg was still seated at the window as she had remained for almost two days, Moran left his cabin, telling her proudly, coldly, that he was going to fetch more water from the Fountain. He returned an hour later, clutching his prize, tauntingly offering her a drink. She hadn't spoken to him, of course. Surely after venturing out so early, he would be asleep? Carefully, she tiptoes to the door of his inner cabin and presses her ear against it. Slow, rhythmic breathing. _Thank you. _

She returns to the door onto the deck, turns the silver handle and lets herself out into the pleasant, warm morning. The sun is a blessing on her back, her eyes adjusting to the light, as she goes to the rail and looks out on the sea. _Jack always said you need to know what you want. I do. And that's how I will find my way._ Meg's hands are not shaking at all when she climbs up onto the railing and dives gracefully from the ship into the glittering ocean. Filled with her purpose, the numbness dissipated, Meg swims hard for the shore.

On reaching the safety of the pale sand, Meg stretches. She feels as if she has all the time in the world. Such a rare feeling nowadays. The cave where the Fountain rests opens wide behind her, ready to swallow her whole. But not yet. Meg finds a rock that's not covered in seaweed, lies upon it and watches the gulls circling in the sky. The peace won't last, she knows that, but she's happy to try and make it last, at least as long as it takes for her clothes to dry off.

Maybe half an hour passes before she finally gets up and stretches once more. She looks at the sky with a sad smile and strolls into the cave, locket still clutched in her hand.

The cave within is expansive, its top maybe thirty feet above her. The bottom of it is filled with water, except for the flat, black pathway of rock leading straight through to the other side of it. The other mouth of the cave, a good three-hundred yards away, is almost dark. Whatever is beyond it is unclear to her still. Blue light dances off the cave walls, bouncing from the water onto the uneven surfaces. And she is overcome by magic, the sense that both good and evil have passed through here, and the long, unspoken battle that has continued in the air long after they have left. Her breathing echoes as she walks along the rocky path.

Meg wishes she could make this journey with no nerves, no general anxiety rushing through her veins, but she is human. Trying to calm her nerves, she opens the locket and lets the song echo through the humming silence. It encourages her like a calming hand at her back.

She emerges from the cave into a forest clearing. It is a peaceful place. Blossom rains in fat, brightly-coloured flowers from the trees, landing in her hair. It smells sweet. Insects buzz and scratch from their places in the undergrowth and it is warm here, a real tropical forest. But it's the opposite end of the clearing that draws her eyes.

A wall of black rock rises ahead of her, showing through the thickly-growing trees, covered partly in moss and climbing orange flowers. The wall is made up of hundreds of black boulders, the lower ones of which have been carved on. The carvings watch Meg indifferently, and she wonders if they are carvings of those who have gone before her. Water gurgles in a heady rush from the wall of rock, somewhere just above her head. She watches its progress down the rocks, glittering strangely in the sunshine, collecting at last in a basin formed by a collection of boulders. It looks like the purest source of water she has even seen, and yet... when she turns her head there is the distinct red tinge, a startling wound that seems to hurt her physically just to look at. The water spills over the edges of the basin, cascading down more rocks before seeping into the earth, not enough to form a stream, coming from the earth, returning to it.

The deed before her seems to great, but the actual movement required so small. She holds the locket out in front of her, her hand above the glittering water. You must know what it is you want. Meg smiles, remembering something, and her hand opens, the locket tumbling down into the pool, landing at the bottom with a soft scratch. Suddenly, it seems the forest is very silent, warmer somehow. The water of the Fountain bubbles slightly, and steam rises from it in coils. Still wearing her small smile, she leans forward and inhales that smoke. Even though the locket is closed at the bottom, Meg swears she can hear its song as she turns deliberately from the Fountain and makes her way back through the cave.

The song breathes its refrain inside her. She feels strangely heavy, perhaps with the steam. It's not completely pleasant, but she has not lost her smile. She walks back along the beach, relishing the sunshine. At the water's edge, however, she stops, breathing out slowly. She speaks, and although she didn't even know the word was in her head, she knew it all along. It had been part of her forever.

"Will."

The morning sun is rising higher into the sky, the rush of the waves filling her ears as she walks out into the surf, his name still on her lips. By the time the Pearl is somewhere she could see it, her head is below the surface of the water, and she does not come back up.


	19. A Strange Sacrifice

**Another update for you :) Thanks for the reviews. Here's Emma...**

Chapter 18 - Emma

We are anchored outside the cove where the Fountain of Youth is located. I can feel my excitement building…or is it terror? Sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish between the two. I am excitedly terrified; much more appropriate.

The sky is dark with clouds and barely any sun is reaching us. I shiver and glance up uncomfortably. If ever there was an omen of ill fate, this was it.

Our plan is to ambush Moran at nightfall and I hope it goes well. However, the lack of action is beginning to agitate all of us. The PBs and I throw mutinous glances at Jack, Barbossa and Norington as they sit, seemingly without a care in the world. It's bloody ridiculous I'm telling you; we should be doing something.

Nim sighs in frustration, then, suddenly, her face brightens. She clearly has an idea and to be quite honest, it frightens me. Ideas lead to action and action leads to adventure. Fun to some, but in my case, adventure seems likely to lead to death. Not a happy ending by any means. Well, to me at least.

Leaning forward she invites us all closer. We put our heads together conspiratorially and prepare to listen.

"I suggest a bit of action of our own. Those pirates aren't going to do anything so we will. Look at them just sitting there, we should be doing something."

We all agree with firm and fervent nods. It's true; something has to be done.

"Well, what can we do? We're stuck here until nightfall." says Kirsti.

"You know, we don't have to be stuck here." replies Katie slowly.

I grin and lower my voice further.

"We could just…leave. Who are they to stop us? We're the PBs; we do whatever the hell we want!"

After much laughing and high-fiving, we agree that a distraction is needed. This is Nim's time to shine. Kirsti, Katie and I lean casually against the railing beside the long boats. I whistle in a most casual and innocent way which earns me a glare from Jack. Quickly stopping, I reach through the railing and throw the cover from the boat. Easy.

We all watch Nim sneak towards the main mast, dagger in hand. She grabs a rope at random and begins to hack at it while Jack, Norrie and Barbossa float around the ship in an incredibly irritating fashion. The rope hangs by a thread and Nim nods to us. Suddenly I fear that the cutting of this rope will lead to the complete structural collapse of the ship.

Don't be an idiot, I tell myself. Then again…

Nim cuts the final strand and jumps away from the scene of the crime. We stand for a moment, wondering why nothing has happened when a sail suddenly swings from the mast with surprising speed. The heavy white material covers most of the deck, including the three pirates we wanted to distract.

We are geniuses of the highest order!

Nim runs to us and we clamber into the long boat as quickly as possible, not caring about noise. I can hear Jack's swears as we cut the ropes holding the boat and plummet into the choppy water below. Immediately my stomach churns and I hold a hand to my mouth. The water rises around the boat, rocking us to and fro, sending sprays of salty water into our faces. I hate the sea sometimes; it can be a royal bitch.

Nim and I grab an oar while Katie and Kirsti grab the other. And so the muscle-ripping exercise begins. I can feel my arms scream in protest as I pull the oar with the help of Nim. We crash though the waves, not speaking so as to conserve our energy. I didn't really have all that much energy to conserve, if I'm honest.

Sweat and sea water drips down my back as we approach the rocks by the cove. I was wondering if I would make it alive. My physical fitness is quite astonishing. I seriously lack upper body strength. Spaghetti would be as useful as my arms.

Finally, the boat bumps onto the sand behind the rocks and each of us groan in relief. We hop out of the boat and trudge along the sand. I scan our surroundings and it makes me feel rather hopeless. This island is desolate and mind-numbingly depressing. The gloom wraps itself around you until you fight it no more and settle into heartbreak. Far from pleasant.

The sun is fighting against the clouds and we watch as it punches an arm of light through them to illuminate the beach. Standing behind the rocks we watch the rays lighten the atmosphere. I look around and spot a figure approaching the water.

"Duck!" I whisper.

We all dive behind a rock and peek out to watch the person. Their steps are steady and purposeful as they come up to the water. Nim squints in confusion.

"That's not a pirate."

Then it hits me. We all know that person.

"Meg!" I cry.

Katie and Kirsti look around the rock and we stare at each other, wondering what she could possibly be doing.

Meg speeds up, now ankle deep in the water, seemingly unaffected by its icy chill. Her hair is whipped around her face by the wind but she doesn't appear to care. What is she doing?

We move around the rocks and see her face in the light. Her face is serene and expression free, apart from a small smile which plays around her mouth. She seems almost...happy. A clap of thunder makes us all jump and a flash of lightning strikes the sand.

It's a storm that no one saw coming.

Rain falls from the heavens in fat, heavy drops, smacking us all. Meg is soaked through and the water washes over her hips.

"She's not stopping," Nim says, her tone disbelieving.

No one speaks and the silence is killing me.

"She's not stopping!" Nim cries, a hysterical edge now in her voice.

Nim tries to clamber over the rocks but her feet slide on the wetness caused by the rain. We're all clawing at the rock face, trying to find some way to get to Meg before she can go further.

Meg's neck is now in the water and she stares out at the horizon, eyes gleaming and body shivering. She takes one more breath and her mouth moves.

"Will…" she says, her voice carried back to us on the harsh winds.

Then, she's gone.

The clouds fight back and cover the sun once more and all light disappears. We collapse on the rocks and look out to where we last saw Meg. Tears spill from our eyes and our cheeks are flushed with grief and anger.

"How could she?" I cry.

We all agree. Meg's final act is horrifying. Torn between anger and misery we watch the waves wash over the body of our fellow PB and friend as though they had not just swallowed her up and taken her from us forever.

The heavy silence is lifted as the Flying Dutchman bursts from the water, finally eerily bobbing on the surface.

Will lowers himself by boat into the now calm sea and floats away from the ship. His arm sinks into the water and from the depths he pulls Meg. Her now dry clothes flutter in the breeze and her face is lit with happiness. It's Meg before things went wrong and in a way, we are glad to see her like this once more; the way we want to remember her.

Will's arms wrap around her waist and he pulls her towards him, capturing her lips with his own. They climb back onto the Flying Dutchman and stand together at the rails, simply holding each other, not even having to speak.

Hands entwined, as they will be forever more, they sail into the horizon and vanish with a blinding flash of green.

Little do they know, they have left a stunned silence and the PBs behind them on the dark and rocky beach.

We go back to the boat, now knowing our plan was useless, and sail back to the Pearl.

Moran has taken our friend from us. He forced her to kill herself, pushed her over the edge. Surely the reason she killed herself was the sheer awfulness of being his prisoner? I am not the vengeful type, but I know, along with my fellow PBs, revenge is in order.

Moran is going to suffer.


	20. The Promise Of Redemption

**OK, sorry for the slowness in updating. This story is nearing its end, and we wanted to get a few things fixed. That's why there's a new chapter we previously forgot to post - I recommend you go back and read it - it's Chapter 16: Adrift. It explains A LOT. So, without further ado, the longest chapter ever...**

Chapter 20 - Nim

We wait in the bay which hides the Fountain of Youth, knowing Moran will return. It doesn't take long. We all stand at the railing, preparing for the battle, knowing that, whatever it takes, we will get revenge for all he has done. A wind stirs our hair; a storm is coming. Calypso is angry. I only hope she will direct her anger towards our enemies.

Their ship approaches, the first shots are fired and we are thrown into the battle. Chunks are torn from the side of the Pearl, holes blasted through her sails. We are losing.

Waves buffet us from all sides, spray arcing up and making the decks more treacherous than ever. The ship rolls beneath us, straining to keep afloat on the vile, churning sea. I'm screaming without restraint as I load and reload the cannons, my most loathed job in battle. The huge cannons buck as they're fired, knocking me down almost every time, sapping my energy. My friends, on either side of me, are having the same problems; they're crying openly and I'm sure I must be too, only my face is too numb to feel it. My hand is bleeding from where I've ripped it on a splintered railing on deck and the blood smears across my face as I wipe rain and spray from my eyes.

Suddenly, the men are retreating from the cannons, drawing swords from their belts and running up the companionway with grim expressions. I'm frozen, looking at my friends and wondering what to do.

"Moran's men must be coming aboard!" Kirsti yells over the roaring of waves.

There is a moment in which fear is palpable between us all. When we regain composure, we're all running after the men, drawing our swords. It feels heavier than usual in my hand, my tiredness weighting my steps. I don't even feel the cold rain and wind as we emerge onto the half deck.

The scene that greets us is terrible; blood blooms against the deck and the white-crested waves as our crewmen are massacred. I count five fallen already, more struggling to keep ahead of the blank-faced, cold-eyed army of Moran.

"Up onto the forecastle!" Jack calls to me as he runs past. "Go, now!"

I'm not in the mood to disobey, and my friends and I follow Jack's order, ascending the steps to the abandoned forecastle, standing with our swords drawn. While the rain blurs my eyes, I can see Jack taking the helm while an injured Barbossa tells him something. Jack nods grimly, eyes fixed on me where I stand opposite him. I tear my eyes from his, preparing to fight.

But then I see him; Moran is coming aboard. He is unmistakeable, dressed all in black embroidered with silver, sword gleaming brighter than anyone else's. His eyes are cold and piercing even from where I stand, and I watch in horror as they light on Jack and he turns towards the quarterdeck. Jack hasn't seen him yet...

"No!" I run, hurling myself down the steps, landing with a stumble.

"Nim!" Katie, Kirsti and Emma are running after me, their steps echoing in my head as I skirt the many battles going on the half deck. I'm slipping in blood and the ship lurches precariously to one side, a sucking sound as the hull comes dangerously out of the water. As the world rights itself, I lunge for the stairs Moran is climbing. In my cold fingers, I grab the soaking velvet tails of his coat, tugging them as hard as I can and forcing him to stop, turn, look at me. The PBs are just behind, still as I am. I'm on the third step, but they're on the deck, so close but so far.

As those black eyes lock onto mine, I shake with fear. I don't even care about appearing brave any more; I just want to turn and run. But then he speaks.

"You killed Meg." he says, his voice low and silky, travelling across the screech and crash of battle.

"No..." I mouth, trying to protest. But doubt stops me from continuing. Did I kill her? Did I drive her away? Did I let Will become captain of the Dutchman when I could've sacrificed myself? A yawning sadness explodes inside me, my sword clattering to the floor.

Somewhere outside of me, I can hear my friends protesting, calling my name, rushing forward. It doesn't take more than a split second; Moran's sword slices through the air, bright and beautiful. There's a momentary wrenching pain across my chest and I fall, so grateful. So grateful. He has killed me, surely? I killed Meg. I killed her. Justice. So sweet. The ship lurches and rolls once more, now to the other side. It tips further, too far, and black water closes over me.

In the dark, I feel nothing.

I'm the wind, tearing the sails, rolling the ships so their hulls jut obscenely from the broken surface of the water. I'm the cold sea, welcoming the dead and dying like a dark god. I'm the sky, watching it as retribution dissipates the pain. But I'm weakening. I'm weakening. The myriad sensations of the battle fade away to nothing, and I'm myself again. And I'm lying somewhere warm.

Sand blows softly across my face, and I can feel it beneath me, warmed by the sun and soft as a bed. I open my eyes and look down at myself, bright blood flowering around the tear in my shirt. But when I put my hands to my chest, there is no wound. My head aches. Where am I? What happened before I got here?

"It's a tragedy." A voice, familiar and warm as the sand beneath me. Quickly, I stand, finding I've got the strength to do it. But there's still the weakness sapping my energy like the tide. "You're weakening too, aren't you?" Tia Dalma, Calypso, stands before me, as she did before she was freed, smiling widely but her eyes filled with sadness.

"Yes." I reply, not entirely understanding. "Why?"

"You feel what I feel." she explains, sitting down on the sand, her skirts ragged around her. She gestures for me to sit, and I do. "I had enough power to save you. Just. But I don't know if I'll be able to send you back."

"You're weakening?"

"I am. Meg untainted the water of the Fountain for me, she gave her life. But there is still more to do. I'm sure you know."

"Sorry… I…" my brain feels fuzzy and strange. I can't think. "What can we do?"

"The locket, it has a pair, yes?"

"Kirsti has it," I say. Of course… "They both have to be returned to the Fountain?"

"Correct. Reunited." Calypso says with a sweet smile, and I shiver. Reunited, like Meg and Will. Like Jack and me… perhaps?

"Am I dead?"

"In a way, yes." she confirms. "But all is not lost."

The sea is not too far from us, glittering like a dream on my left. The sun turns it bright blue, calm, inviting. Somewhere, I can sense the battle, and I ache to return to it, to finish it and try to save those I love. But right now, I'm here. And that will have to suffice.

"I didn't kill her." I say, tears coming suddenly to my eyes. "I didn't kill her. I know I didn't. Why did he say that?"

"I shall let someone else explain all this." Tia Dalma lays a hand on my shoulder. She is insubstantial, flickering like a mirage. "It costs me to appear to you like this. The last of my power will be needed to get you back." she looks out over the sand dunes. "Here she comes now."

I squint in the direction she is looking, and the sea goddess is gone. Instead, I can see a tiny black shape on the horizon, coming over the vast dunes of what I've come to accept as the Locker. Or, at least, a part of it. It's not as desolate as the place Jack was left. More like a paradise so terribly beautiful that you can't bear to leave. The shape gets larger as it moves closer and a chill spreads across my skin. I know who it is. Rising to my feet, I watch her arrive, hair blowing in strands across my skin, warm and comfortable for the first time in hours. I stop crying as shock robs me of all emotion. I say her name on a breath.

"Meg."

And there she is, standing before me. I'm sure that she must be real and I reach out and take her hand to confirm it. She's smiling. All I can feel is relief. I didn't kill her. He lied. And here we are, burning in this paradise, while he is still in the battle. Saved and special, not like him.

"You didn't kill me." she says quietly, and it's confirmed. As relief takes over, my anger with her starts to rear up again. I drop her hand, back away, confused. She killed herself. And that's why she's here.

"No. You killed yourself." Is that my voice? So cold and heartless?

"Yes, sort of." Meg sits down, just as Calypso did, legs crossed. She pats the sand beside her, but I don't want to join her. I want to return to the battle, to my friends, to those who wouldn't give up on life just because they lost someone. "You ought to sit, Nim. There's only one way back."

I can hear Calypso's locket singing on the warm wind, and I know it's the sea goddess' warning. Reluctantly, I join Meg on the floor, playing with the ripped sole of my boot so I don't have to look at her.

"Why did you kill yourself?" I ask in a quiet voice.

"Moran captured me, and he told me that if I took the locket from Kirsti and gave it to him, he could bind Calypso, and that he'd let me be with Will forever. He would have to take her place, and he would have all the power of the sea." she laughs quietly, bitterly. "He was lying, of course. But as you've seen today, he can be very persuasive."

My mind darts back to how he told me I'd killed her; how I welcomed death, saw him as the righteous, good man granting me peace. A chill rushes across my skin. Meg is right about that.

"You betrayed your friends." I say, still not convinced. But I doubt myself - would I not do the same thing? There have been times in this world where I would've given anything to have someone tell me the right path to follow. Meg did just as he said, and he betrayed her.

"I know. And I'm sorry." Meg's voice is heavy with her remorse. She is honest about it. "If I could go back and change what I did, I would. I would do it in a second." Tears choke her and I soften.

"What happened then? What happened after you returned to Moran's ship?" I press, wanting to know the end of the story. Why did she take her life?

"Let me show you." she takes both my hands in hers, and the world falls away. I'm watching, like a film playing out before my eyes. There's nothing I can do to stop it.

Meg sits in the grand cabin with Moran, looking distraught. She has failed to bring the locket. He smiles slightly and reveals that he has tainted the fountain, the first step. He explains that she must drink some of it in order to become immortal, must drink it to be able to join Will.

She takes it from him greedily, letting him pour it into her mouth. But something is wrong. Meg doesn't feel immortal, or like she could go to Will. She only feels numb and unfocused, her mind a blur. Through the haze, she lets him explain how he lied - how she is now under his control and how she will never see Will again. Because she killed him, didn't she? She didn't sacrifice herself, so she let him die.

"I will be different." Meg asserts, slurring her words a little as the drink takes its hold. "You won't control me. I'm different."

"We shall see." he says, and the darkness closes over her.

Then, I'm watching Meg defy him. She knows what she has to do to untaint the Fountain! And she's going to do it. I watch her go to the Fountain, inhale the strange otherworldly smoke and walk out into the sea without fear. I even see the Pearl come around the corner of the island as she disappears beneath the waves.

As we leave, another ship arrives, coming from the waves itself, once a fearsome ship, but now a means of bringing her home. I see how she wakes up with Will standing over her on the deck, how they sail together, never leaving each other's side, in the direction of the Locker.

"You can sail with me for eternity now." he tells her, holding onto her as his crew prepare a longboat for her to go ashore on the glittering sand. "Why do you need to stop here?"

"There is something I must do." Meg tells him, kissing him and turning away.

She goes onto the beach and watches him leave, waving from the shore, just as she did back at Shipwreck Cove, an age ago. But now, it is her choice. She sits down on the soft sand of this part of the Locker to wait. She waits for me.

And I'm back on the sand myself, sitting opposite her. I'm feeling slightly tired again, as if I have been in the sun too long. I didn't know I was crying.

"You can return to him, once I've gone back?" I ask.

"Yes." she replies with a smile. I'm relieved.

"How do I get back?"

She looks away, onto the horizon. She seems to be struggling for the words. And somehow I knew it all along.

"I have to forgive you." I state, and she confirms it with a nod. I stand, somewhat shakily, and she stands with me. "I never knew it would be so easy. Of course I forgive you. I forgive you, Meg!"

I'm still repeating it as she smiles widely, tears filling her eyes. The Dutchman appears as I fade away from the paradise, the warm sun dripping away as it grows unbearably dark.

Then, I'm awake on different sand. The sky is roiling with the storm, and the sounds of battle rush back to me as I stand. There is strength in my limbs, however, and I draw my sword. Every move I have to make to fight off the cursed, controlled soldiers seems illuminated like a path in the stars; I know exactly what to do. For once, I can handle a sword!

"Nim!" Kirsti, Emma and Katie are all standing at the entrance of the cave, fighting off anyone who comes near them with ease. "What's happened?" Kirsti asks.

"You were dead." Katie looks stunned, they all do. I give them a wide smile, easily deflecting the blows of a hideous, bald pirate who lunges for me clumsily.

"Yes, I was." I call back. "I'll explain later."

"We're winning now. How come?" Emma asks, fighting gracefully. The rain is stopping. "And the Pearl righted itself. It capsized, but now it's fine."

"Calypso's back. But we need to restore her completely, we need to return the locket to the Fountain."

"Now?" Kirsti says incredulously, fighting with her sword in one hand, pistol in the other.

"Yes." I reply simply. "Then we'll be able to finish this. It has to end."

The four of us retreat towards the mouth of the cave, watching carefully to see if anyone notices us. Thankfully, all the blank-eyed soldiers of Moran's are locked in battle with our crew. We slip into the cave, silent as shadows.

None of us speak as we make our way through the cave where blue light reflected from the water's surface shifts and falls across our faces like ghosts. I can tell that all of us are struck by the aura of magic. When we emerge into the woods, the silence is eerie. The cries of the battle cannot be heard at all from here, and we all look about warily. Still, nothing harms us. And we reach what we all know to be the Fountain, bubbling from the gap in the rock.

When I saw what Meg had seen, the water had a strange, reddish hue, but now it is perfectly clear. Clearer, in fact; it is almost silver. We gather around it, looking down where the first locket lies in the rocky pool.

"What do we do?" Emma asks, looking at it, mesmerized.

"I need the other locket." I say. It's hard to focus, to tear my eyes away from the falling water, the way the light catches it.

Kirsti hands me the other locket, the one that brought her back to this world and I hold it over the pool. The links begin to slip through my fingers, but something strikes me. The point of the locket hovers just above the surface of the water as I grip it tightly and turn to look at Kirsti.

"You can't go back if I do this." I tell her. Something about this tells me that those lockets will never be returned to us, that Calypso would trust us mortals, easily-corrupted as we are, with something so powerful ever again. She has seen too much betrayal, and that much is something I can understand.

"I know. I don't want to go back." Kirsti replies, "Ever."

We take a collective breath and I drop the locket into the water, where it falls against the other. On the wind, we can hear the tune they play, a wonderful, tempting harmony now they are reunited. The lockets burn brightly through the water, joined together. The light illuminates the entire Fountain, spreading through cracks in the rock, blinding. We shield our eyes for a moment, and then it's gone. When we look into the pool, there is nothing there.

"It's done." Katie says. For a moment, the four of us stand there, our thoughts silent but all the same; what was lost. A cloud passes over the sun and we recover ourselves, drawing our swords once more, heading back towards the cave.

As we arrive at the beach, we are stopped by a terrible sight; Moran standing on the sand, almost at the mouth of the cave, looking at us with a heart-stopping, terrible anger. His crew fights on, gradually losing the battle, our side helped by Calypso. Standing by him now are only two of his officers, the most loyal. One with wild red hair and a vicious grin, the other looking much like a younger version of Moran, his clothes very fine.

"You'll pay for what you did." Moran hisses. The two officers lunge at us. Emma and I, who are standing on the end of our line, jump aside and avoid them, turning back to slash at them with our swords, but Kirsti and Katie are caught. Kirsti stabs one in the shin and twists out of his grip, but Katie's sword is knocked to the ground, she's weapon less, unarmed and struggling.

"No!" we exclaim as the two officers drag her, kicking and screaming, towards the water's edge.  
"You have just killed another of your friends. How many more will have to die before you give in?" Moran steps close to me and whispers this. Before, I would have believed him, accepted his strange persuasion, but now I've seen the truth of it, his desperation and desire for power.

"No one on my side is going to die." I tell him coldly.

"We shall see." he smiles cruelly and follows his men.

We run after them, but it's too late. Moran's ship is still floating, bottom-up, in the sea, and he rows, with Katie, out towards the Pearl.

"What are we going to do?" I ask, despairing. It seemed so easy when I returned from the Locker. Now, all is upside down again.

"We have to find Jack." Kirsti affirms, and we search the beach for him. Surely, he will know what to do?

"Nim!" I hear someone calling me and I turn round. It's Elizabeth, and she's hunched over someone. My eyes take in the feathered black hat, the long coat. It's Barbossa, and he's wounded... or worse. Hurrying, I go over.

"Is he...?" I ask.

"Yes." when she looks at me, there are tears in her eyes. "I wanted to find James, but I can't. It's all so terrifying." She breaks down, crying on the sand.

"Elizabeth, have you seen Jack?" I grab her shoulders. "It's important. Come on, we can look for Norrington and Jack together. Moran's taken Katie."

I half-carry Elizabeth away from the body of Barbossa, trying not to think about the fallen pirate on the sand. Our search for Norrington and Jack is not too difficult; they are standing at the edge of the beach with Emma and Kirsti, who are waving frantically to get our attention. When we reach them, Jack looks gravely at me.

"I thought you were gone." Something in his eyes stops my breath momentarily, something so sad that I want to forget the battle, walk away. I wonder if it's some remnant of Moran's effect on me, and I shake it off.

"I'm not." I reply shortly. "It doesn't matter, anyway. We need to save Katie. She can't be left with him too long."

The things Moran may do remain unspoken between us. The battle on the sand is over for us, and we walk determinedly across the beach.

"Let's go." Jack gives me another look and then goes to one of the longboats washed up on the shore. We all hurry to help him turn it the right way up, climbing in and grabbing the oars. Determined, we row with synchronised movements out to the Pearl, leaving one battle behind, entering another.


	21. Poison

**Right, I'm ready to post the last few chapters now. :) Thanks for all your reviews and support. This story was awesomely fun to write. **

Chapter 21 - Katie

Moran yells out to his officer as he is dragging me into to the Grand Cabin. The Pearl, so familiar, is now utterly frightening.

"You! Bring me that rope over there!" he yells furiously.

The guard scrambles in fear and brings the rope that had been coiled just outside of the entryway.

"H-Here, Master…" he says, nervously offering the rope.

"Tie her hands! MOVE!" Moran screams when the man hesitates, and I cringe at the sound of his booming voice.

The man quickly ties my hands together, luckily the cut on the right isn't bleeding too bad anymore but it still stings. I know that I won't be able to get away from Moran. In all honesty, I'd rather let my hands be tied, if it means he will finally let go of me. Moran checks my hands before he drags me over to a chair and throws me onto it. He puts his pistol away; we both know I can't escape now.

"You're not as complacent as your friend Megan was. When she went back to your ship, did you know that she did it of her own accord? I won't be making that mistake again."

His mistake? His gaze pierces me and I see in his eyes a growing madness, the intimidating coldness that he gives off. I try to look away, but I can't. His imposing presence makes me want to run and hide, but something renders me motionless, and just as scared to look away.

A malicious smile creeps across his face. He pulls out a leather packet, lays it on the desk, unties and folds it out. He pulls out a small bottle of water from inside. I jump from a loud sound outside, the noise makes Moran turn towards the door. A gunshot, the crew yelling. My friends must have reached the ship.

"Make sure Sparrow and the others don't reach the cabin, now go! As for you," he turns to face me as the door slams shut from the crewman leaving, "don't worry, you'll be joining them soon, on my terms of course."

He says it as if he is a long time friend doing me some kind of favor. I look back at him in disgust. He laughs at my reaction, and looks down at the water in his hand. The sounds of the fighting outside aren't as loud now. Moran's crew sounds frantic, desperate. I can almost pick out familiar voices. For a second, I think I can hear Jack, yelling out triumphantly. Good, Moran's crew must be losing.

Moran turns, and is now looking around at Jack's cabin, but still just a few feet from me. "I think you'll enjoy it, doesn't every pirate sailing the seas hope to master them one day? Soon, I will. By challenging me, your friends have sentenced themselves to die. I'm willing to give you a reprieve, drink this now and you can go out and ensure they get a quick death. That's more than the crew will give them."

"No, can't you hear that your crew is failing?" I ask, almost in disbelief, that he hasn't seemed to notice what is transpiring outside.

He tightens his grip on the water.

"DO NOT QUESTION ME!" He swings around in a rage. He hits the side of my face with such force that I fall out of the chair. Grimacing, I try to crawl away, but Moran grabs my leg to pull me back. Quickly, I kick the bottle out of his hand. He looks as it rolls across the wooden planks, and I take the chance to kick him the side. He curses in pain and lets go of my leg. I scramble to try to stand up, impeded by my hands being tied. But Moran is quicker, grabbing me half standing and throwing me hard against a wall. Half dazed and in pain, I want to get up, but know it's useless. I look up to see Moran standing over me, holding the water in his hand, already uncorked. He leans down, grasping the top of my coat.

"Did you really think you could get away?" he asks, almost sympathetically.

For a few seconds I'm not sure what is happening. When the dazed feeling goes away, I realize it's too late. I look up to see Moran, holding the bottle, empty. Now I just hope the others reach the cabin before it's too late and I'm under Moran's control. A moment later, my regained clarity starts to fade away. Not from what happened earlier but something else. I don't know why but I suddenly feel sick and drowsy. It's hard to focus now, and it comes and goes in waves. I know that Moran is talking but I can't distinguish what he is saying. It sounds like confusion. The water must taking effect. I can't give in to it, not now. I fight against the drowsiness. The clarity is starting to come back.

I hear the door crash open unexpectedly. Moran quickly picks me up from the floor and once again I'm helpless, held tight by his grip just like on the beach. I can see what's going on a little better now. Norrington is standing a few feet inside the cabin, sword raised. I start losing focus again, as if someone wants me to go to sleep. I feel my eyes get heavy but I manage to fight it. It's not as easy this time. Kirsti and Elizabeth run in, followed by Nim and Emma.  
"Let her go."  
"Too late." I hear the empty bottle hit and roll across the floor as Moran tosses it to Norrington's feet. Suddenly, I'm completely overwhelmed by the sick feeling. There's no fighting it this time, I've lost and it takes hold immediately. There's a sharp blade at my neck. Someone screams "NO!", I'm not sure who it is that yells it.

Everything goes dark.


	22. Endings

Chapter 22 - Emma

Katie's eyes roll to the back of her head and she slumps, lifeless into Moran's arms. My hands roll into fists as we all stand frozen, staring at our helpless friend. I'm having to fight my desire to attack Moran for I know he will kill Katie without hesitation if any of us dare move.

My ninja skills aren't quite to the degree I would like them to be, otherwise I would defuse the situation in a fly-kicking heartbeat.

The tension in the room is palpable and Moran is glaring at us evilly, almost daring us to move so that he can cause us more pain. Out of the corner of my eyes I can see Kirsti and Nim, standing ready to jump on the awful pirate. Their expressions are ones of absolute rage, as I know my own must be. I don't pull off the angry look well so I hope I look at least as menacing as my friends.

I can't recall a time when I've ever felt so much hatred for a person. This, for want of a better description, man has no qualities which I could admire nor any which could redeem him in anyone's eyes. He is evil, pure and simple. His being seems to emanate an intimidating aura. I can't help but quell slightly under his gaze, feeling like a mere child who has no idea what she has gotten into.

An explosion of breaking wood shatters the silence and Jack bursts into the room, his silhouette looking very grand in the doorway. Not wasting a moment of time, he raises his pistol, a look of cold steel on his face and pulls the trigger.

We all watch as the bullet flies from his gun, slicing the air and straight into Moran's heart. I have to say, even though he sways an inordinate amount, Jack can really aim.

Moran's body crumples like a puppet whose strings have been cut, his face slack with disbelief and his mouth open in a silent scream of rage.

His arm slides from around Katie's neck as they both drop and I see a flash of red as a small cut appears on her neck.

Kirsti runs to Katie and checks her neck, pulling her away from Moran's body.

"It's alright, she's fine. Just a shallow cut." Kirsti says, clearly relieved, as we all are.

Katie's eyes flutter open and she groans at the sudden light. Her hand flies to her neck and she lets out a sigh of relief when she finds no knife there. She gazes around the room and spots us all staring at her. Her eyes rest on Jack who still holds his pistol, looking quite frightening even now.

"You have impeccable timing, Jack." she says, her voice slightly hoarse.

Jack tucks away his pistol roughly.

"I pride myself on it, luv."

We all stand together and walk out on to the deck. Officers lie dead around us; their open, empty eyes staring eerily at the sky. I wonder what they're looking for. An angel perhaps? Redemption? A part of me hopes they find it.

We group together in a stunned silence, unable to tear out eyes away from the wreckage of so many lives.

"It wasn't their fault" says Kirsti quietly.

"You're right. It's a bit sad really. He controlled them until they died. He's destroyed so many lives, including his own." says Nim, her face darkened by a scowl of revulsion.

"I'm sure if they were given the chance they wouldn't have followed his orders." says Katie.

I look around and spot the pirate who threatened me in the bar in Shipwreck Cove.

"Don't be so sure about him," I say, pointing, "Nasty little git."

We all approach the edge of the ship, ready to sail away from this adventure. I wonder if I can handle much more adventure; it saps the energy right out of me. Ah, laziness; my defining quality.

A flash of green illuminates each of our faces and we shield our eyes against it. The Flying Dutchman appears from the calm water and we watch it sail closer to us.

Will and Meg. I feel dread tug at my heart. I don't think I could bear seeing her again and I wonder if the others feel the same way.

It looks like we have no other choice.


	23. Beginnings

Chapter 23 - Nim

The journey back to Port Royal, which seems, rather strangely, like the most logical place to go, takes three surprisingly short, silent days. Due to our greatly depleted crew, all of us are required to work on deck, and I find that hard work makes the days go quicker and keeps sad thoughts from your mind. Never before have I relished scrubbing the decks, bracing the sails or polishing the railings, but now each ache in my muscles and raw patch of skin on my hands seems to bring me closer to something. Acceptance, perhaps?

At night, we take our quiet meals in the crew's mess, too tired to speak. Keeping the Pearl going is a lot of work for such a small crew, and it shows in all of our faces that such hard work is what's needed for now.

On the second night at sea, I wake at midnight and look over at Meg's empty bunk, illuminated in a shaft of moonlight. In spite of my exhaustion from working hard, I find I can't go back to sleep now. Getting up, I head up to the deck and into the Grand Cabin, tiptoeing across the room, past the hulking shadow of Jack's desk and to his cabin door. Pressing my ear against the wood, I can hear his slow breathing. With a small smile, I push open the door, closing it just as quietly behind me. He's just a lump in the blankets as I go round to the other side of the bed and climb in, being careful not to move too suddenly.

"What? What is it?" he asks groggily, turning over to look at me. In the pale light of the moon coming in through the windows, I can see his eyes, dark and still sleepy.

"I couldn't sleep." I reply, shifting closer so I can take in the warmth of him. I'm so cold. As I lie there, I remember what Meg said about how much I'd enjoy spending the night with Jack on the island where we were marooned. I remember her laughter and the brave, determined way she had gone with Will to the brig of the Pearl that same night. I laugh at how dizzy we both were to be in this world.

"Why are you laughing?" Jack asks.

"No reason," I say, closing my eyes and smiling into the dark.

*

We waste no time on arrival in Port Royal; the inn is our first stop. It's a cosy place with a deceptively menacing name – The Burning Witch – and we sit around a little table in the corner, watching a card game which has not yet turned into a fight. Jack and Norrington come back with rum for all of us, and we drink.

"Are we going back to Shipwreck Cove?" Elizabeth asks. She looks better than she has since the battle, her face clean and her hair arranged away from her face. I'm glad she doesn't still look as haunted as she did when I found her standing over Barbossa's body.

"I don't know." Jack says, looking around the table. "It seems a long time since we did a speck of honest pirating."

"I need to go back to the Cove. For a while at least." I say, looking at Jack first, and then at my friends.

"I'll join you there too." Katie nods. She is still pale, and her eyes are still hollow. I wonder how much she was affected by Moran's tainted water and whether the effects are lasting. How are we to know? But, looking at all my friends, I see they bear similar marks of the battle. We're all tainted, really.

Kirsti and Emma also agree that they will return to the Cove for a while. Only Norrington and Elizabeth are left to decide on their near future. We watch them exchange a small smile.

"Yes, I suppose we'll come back too, for now." Norrington says. "Although, I'll miss being at sea."

"You can always join Jack." I suggest.

"Become a pirate?" Norrington looks sceptically at me. "I don't think so."

"Get us some more rum, will you?" Jack growls at Norrington, looking unimpressed.

Norrington gets up and heads to the bar, still smiling. We all sit there, looking pensively into empty glasses, when a man approaches us. He is finely dressed, with a long, brown wig in tight ringlets, his coat covered in delicate gold embroidery. He is also vaguely familiar.

"Excuse me, but was that man Commodore James Norrington?" he asks, looking a little surprised, if not nervous to be addressing a group of what are obviously pirates.

"I haven't been Commodore for some time." Norrington is back. He keeps his eyes on the man as he hands round the rum, "Wait a moment – Lieutenant Groves?"

"I haven't been Lieutenant in a long time, Commodore." Groves smiles warmly. "I'm governor now."

"Living in my father's house, are you?" Elizabeth says, making Groves turn to look at her. She gives him a clear-eyed glare.

"Miss Swann!" he recovers himself. "No, your father's house has been left empty. No one has had the heart to remove anything or move in." he looks between her and Norrington. "Are you married now?"

"Yes." Elizabeth replies. Although, technically, they are not, they've been living as a married couple in Shipwreck Cove for a while.

"Commodore, perhaps you would come to work at the Fort again?" Groves asks, smiling at Norrington. "That is, of course, if you don't have other plans." he gives us all a nervous glance.

"You mock me?" Norrington says in a low, cold voice.

"Not at all, sir!" Groves goes a little red, loosens his silk cravat. "Things have changed since Beckett was killed and that whole affair was done with." he glances at Elizabeth again. "You could take up residence in the house which is, after all, rightfully Mrs Norrington's."

Norrington goes to sit beside Elizabeth, looking at her for a while, gauging her reaction. Slowly, she nods. All around our table, we cheer.

"I will need to return to Shipwreck Cove for a while, to get my affairs in order." Norrington stands to face Groves again, businesslike and proud. "When I return, we shall accept your offer."

"Excellent. Until then, old friend," Groves shakes Norrington's hand warmly, gives us all a little nod and strolls out of the inn, looking considerably pleased with himself.

After a few more celebratory glasses of rum, we walk in a straggling line back to the Pearl, basking in the late evening sunset. I catch Norrington casting a few glances up to Fort Charles, and Elizabeth staring wistfully up into the hills where her father's house sits majestically, surrounded by trees. I know that they will be happy, and I find a weight is lifted from my heart. The conversation is lighter and freer between my friends than it has been for days, and as we approach the dock, the sun glinting in orange shards off the blue sea, Jack entwines his fingers in mine.

A couple of merry days later, we stand on the beach on Shipwreck Island, where so much has been won and lost, saying goodbye to Norrington and Elizabeth. For now, at least. Jack is leaving me for a while, too. But, he assures me he won't be long, and I assure him I will be fine. And I will. I am.

As the four of us stand, arm-in-arm, on the shore, watching the Pearl sail away, I know what must have been in Meg's heart when she longed for immortality – there are things on this earth that would make me want to stay forever, and I'm looking forward, suddenly, to going pirating with Jack and the thousand adventures we will have together, side-by-side. Perhaps we'll see Meg, wave across at her on the Dutchman, following our own paths. Smiling, I follow my friends inside.

**Thanks again, everyone. Please review the ending and tell us what you think.  
**


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